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IMMERSIO 


THE  ACT  OF  CHRISTIAN  BAPTISM 


BY 

V 

JOHN  T.  CHRISTIAN,  A.  M.,  D.  D. 

Corresponding  Secretary  of  the  Convention  Board  of  Mi^simppi  Baptists 


FIFTH  THOUSAND 


CINCINNATI,   OHIO 

THE  STANDARD  PUBLISHING  COMPANY 

Publishers  of  Christian  Literature 


(Copyright,  1891, 
By  J.  T.  CHRISTIAN. 


PREFACE. 


THIS  book  is  the  result  of  long  and  patient 
investigation.  It  was  with  a  view  of  satisfy- 
ing the  author's  own  mind  that  these  studies  were 
begun,  and  with  no  intention  of  writing  a  book. 
Many  large  libraries  have  been  gone  over,  and  a 
somewhat  extensive  correspondence  conducted. 
Many  of  the  books  quoted  are  exceedingly  rare,  and 
many  more  locked  up  in  foreign  languages,  and  it 
occurred  to  me  that  these  authorities  might  be  of 
service  to  those  who  have  neither  the  time  nor 
opportunity  to  investigate  so  large  a  range  of  lit- 
erature. 

I  am  under  obligation  to  many  friends  who  have 
assisted  me  in  divers  ways.  I  cordially  mention 
my  lifelong  friend,  Prof.  Arthur  Yager,  Ph.  D., 
of  Georgetown  College,  Ky.  He  was  especially 
helpful  in  translating  French  and  German  authors. 
And  I  am  indebted  to  Rev.  Basil  Manly,  D.  D., 
LL.  D.,  of  the  Southern  Baptist  Theological  Sem- 
inary, for  suggestions  in  Hebrew  and  Syriac. 

This  book  has  been  written  in  no  controversial 
spirit,  and  it  is  given  to  the  public  with  a  sincere 
desire  to  do  good.  That  it  is  not  faultless  the  author 
is  well  aware,  but  he  does  believe  that  the  propo- 
sitions laid  down  are  in  accord  with  the  Holy 
Scriptures,  and  in  harmony  with  the  universal 
teachings  of  history.  •: 

(3) 


CONTENTS. 


PAOK. 

CHAPTER  I. 

The  Law  of  Baptism  and  Principles  of  Interpretation.    7 

CHAPTER  II. 
What  the  Lexicons  say 16 

CHAPTER  IIL 
What  the  Classical  Writers  say 23 

CHAPTER  IV. 
Does  Baptizo  Necessarily  Mean  to  Drown  ? 31 

CHAPTER  V, 
What  the  Septuagint  says.- 36 

CHAPTER  VI. 
The  Baptism  of  John 46 

CHAPTER  VII. 
The  Baptism  of  Jesus 56 

CHAPTER  VIII. 
The  Baptism  Mentioned  in  Mark  vii :  1-4 63 

CHAPTER  IX. 
The  Baptism  of  tlie  Three  Thousand 71 

CHAPTER  X. 
The  Baptism  of  the  Ethiopian  Eunuch 83 

CHAPTER  XL 
Paul's  Baptism 89 

CHAPTER  XII. 
The  Baptism  of  the  Jailer 94 

CHAPTER  XIII. 
The  Argument  from  Rom.  vi :  4 102 

CHAPTER  XIV. 
What  the  Greek  Fathers  say 108 

(5) 


6  CONTENTS. 

PAGE. 

CHAPTER  XV. 
What  the  Latin  Fathers  say 114 

CHAPTER  XVI. 
"  The  Teaching  of  the  Twelve  Apostles  " 119 

CHAPTER  XVII. 
Argument  from  History  in  favor  of  Immersion 128 

CHAPTER  XVIII. 
Sprinkling  a  Heathen  Custom 136 

CHAPTER  XIX. 
The  Baptism  of  the  Sick 151 

CHAPTER  XX. 
The  History  of  Sprinkling 158 

CHAPTER  XXI. 
What  the  Councils  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  say.  167 

CHAPTER  XXII. 
The  Testimony  of  the  Liturgies  and  Rituals 176 

CHAPTER  XXIII. 
What  the  Poets  say 182 

CHAPTER  XXIV. 
What  the  Greek  Church  says 192 

CHAPTAR  XXV. 
What  the  Catholic  Church  says 204 

CHAPTER  XXVI. 
What  the  Episcopalians  say 213 

CHAPTER  XXVII. 
What  the  Presbyterians  say 223 

CHAPTER  XXVIII. 
What  the  Methodists  say 233 

CHAPTER  XXIX. 
What  the  Syriac  says 240 


IMMERSIOK 


CHAPTER  I. 

THE  LAW  OF  BAPTISM,  AND  THE  PRINCIPLES 
OF  INTERPRETATION. 

rpHE  law  of  baptism  is  laid  down  in  Matthew 
-^  xxviii :  18-20,  in  the  words  of  our  Saviour : 
*'  All  power  is  given  unto  me  in  heaven  and  in 
earth.  Go  ye,  therefore,  and  teach  all  nations, 
baptizing  them  in  the  name  of  the  Father,  and  of 
the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost;  teaching  them 
to  observe  all  things  whatsoever  I  have  com- 
manded you :  and,  lo,  I  am  with  you  alway,  even 
unto  the  end  of  the  world.     Amen.'' 

The  terms  of  this  commission  are  plain  enough. 
I  shall  apply  some  of  the  -principles  of  constitu- 
tional and  statutory  law  to  the  law  of  baptism; 
and  in  it  will  be  found  an  unanswerable  argument 
in  favor  of  immersion.  Greenleaf,  a  very  able 
lawyer,  applied  the  principles  of  law  to  the  Four 
Gospels,  and  gave  to  the  world  one  of  the  strong- 
est books  on  Christian  Evidence  extant ;  and  I  am 
sure  that  from  the  same  standpoint  the  argument 
for  immersion  is  impregnable. 

(7) 


b  IMMERSION. 

I  shall  call  attention  to  a  few  of  the  funda- 
mental principles  of  law : 

1.  Words  are  to  be  used  in  their  primary  or  his- 
torical sense,  and  in  the  meaning  in  which  they 
can  be  proven  historically  to  have  been  used.  No 
secondary  or  figurative  sense  can  be  applied  to 
words  as  long  as  the  historical  sense  can  be  ap- 
plied to  them.  This  is  a  fundamental  rule,  and 
is  laid  down  in  all  of  the  law  books. 

Blackstone,  on  the  interpretation  of  law,  says: 
*^  Words  are  generally  to  be  understood  in  their 
usual  and  most  known  signification ;  not  so  much 
regarding  the  propriety  of  grammar,  as  their  gen- 
eral and  popular  use.  '^  (Com.  59.)  Greenleaf  says  : 
"The  terms  of  every  written  instrument  are  to  be 
understood  in  their  plain,  ordinary  and  popular 
sense.''  (On  Evid.  278.) 

This  idea  is  as  applicable  to  theology  as  it  is  to 
law.  So  clear  is  this  that  the  celebrated  Presby- 
terian author,  Dr.  Charles  Hodge,  says :  "  The 
fundamental  interpretation  of  all  writings,  sacred 
and  profane,  is  that  words  are  to  be  understood  in 
their  historical  sense  in  which  it  can  be  historic- 
ally proved  that  they  were  used  by  their  authors, 
and  intended  to  be  understood  by  those  to  whom 
they  were  addressed.  The  object  of  language  is 
the  communication  of  thought.     Unless  words  are 


THE    LAW    OF    BAPTISM. 


taken  in  the  sense  in  which  those  who  employ 
them  know  they  will  be  understood,  they  will  fail 
of  their  design. ''  (Systemat.  TheoL,  vol.  1,  p.  376.) 
If  this  rule  holds  good,  immersion  is  inevitably 
the  act  of  Christian  baptism.  Beyond  doubt  the 
historical  sense  of  the  word  baptizo  is  to  dip. 
Even  if  it  could  be  proven,  which  is  not  the  case, 
that  some  tropical  definition  favored  affusion,  still, 
with  this  rule  in  sight,  baptism  logically  would 
be  performed  by  immersion.  We  have  no  right 
to  give  the  word  an  arbitrary  meaning.  This 
principle  is  recognized  in  the  interpretation  of  all 
law ;  why  not  in  the  law  of  baptism  ? 

2.  We  have  no  right  to  put  any  arbitrary  con- 
struction upon,  or  to  draw  any  strained  inference 
from,  the  law  of  baptism.  The  New  Testament  is 
to  be  construed  plainly,  and  from  its  express  com- 
mands there  can  be  no  departure.     • 

Upon  no  point  is  the  law  more  explicit  than 
upon  this.  ''A  verbis  legis  non  est  recedendum: 
from  the  words  of  the  law  there  can  be  no  de- 
parture. A  court  of  law  will  not  make  any  in- 
terpretation contrary  to  the  express  letter  of  the 
statute ;  for  nothing  can  so  well  explain  the  mean- 
ing of  the  makers  of  the  Act  as  their  own  direct 
words."  (Brown,  622.)  "  When  a  law  is  plain  and 
unambiguous,  whether  it  be  expressed  in  general 


10  IMMERSION. 

or  limited  terms,  the  legislators  should  be  inter- 
preted to  mean  what  they  have  plainly  expressed, 
and  consequently  no  room  is  left  for  construction. 
Possible  or  probable  meanings,  where  one  is  plainly 
declared  in  the  instrument  itself,  the  courts  are  not 
at  liberty  to  search  for  elsewhere.^^  ..."  That 
which  the  words  declare  is  the  meaning  of  the 
instrument,  neither  courts  nor  legislators  have 
a  right  to  add  to  or  take  away  from  its  meaning.  " 
(On  Constit.  Lim.  68,  70.)  Mr.  Cooly  continues; 
"  In  the  case  of  all  written  laws  it  is  the  intent  of 
the  lawgiver  that  it  is  to  be  enforced.  But  this 
intent  is  to  be  found  in  the  instrument  itself  It  is 
to  be  presumed  that  language  has  been  employed 
with  sufficient  precision  to  convey  it,  and,  unless 
examination  demonstrates  that  the  presumption 
holds  good  in  the  particular  case,  nothing  will 
remain  except  to  enforce  it. '^  (Constit.  Lim.  68.) 
Mr.  Marshall,  Chief  Justice  of  the  United  States, 
said :  "  The  government  of  the  United  States  can 
claim  no  powers  which  are  not  granted  to  it  by 
the  Constitution;  and  the  powers  actually  granted 
must  be  such  as  are  expressly  given,  or  given  by 
necessary  implication. "  (1  Wheat.  326,  Brown.) 
"The  intention  of  the  testator  ought  to  be  the 
only  guide  of  the  court  to  the  interpretation  of 
his  will;  yet  it  must  be  his  intention,  as  collected 


THE   LAW   OF   BAPTISM.  11 

by  the  words  employed  by  himself  in  his  will.  Xo 
surmise  or  conjecture  of  any  object,  which  the  tes- 
tator may  be  supposed  to  have  had  in  view,  can 
be  allowed  to  have  any  weight  in  the  construction 
of  his  will  unless  such  object  be  collected  from  the 
plain  language  of  the  will  itself.  "  (555.) 

These  writers  all  say  that  from  the  words  of  the 
law  there  must  be  no  departure.  Now  this  is  per- 
fectly evident.  If  this  commission  of  Christ  means 
immersion,  we  can  not  depart  from  the  letter  and 
allow  any  other  act.  If  it  were  "  possible,"  or 
^^even  probable,"  that  sprinkling  or  pouring  was 
the  act  of  baptism,  yet  they  could  not  be  admitted, 
since  immersion  is  "  the  historical  or  primary " 
sense  of  the  word  baptizo.  No  room  is  left  for 
construction,  and  we  are  to  take  the  Scriptures  just 
as  they  read.  AYe  are  not  to  read  meanings  into 
the  word  of  the  living  God. 

3.  If  the  commission  is  not  perfectly  plain  and 
explicit  in  all  of  its  terms  it  is  of  no  binding  force 
whatever.  This  the  law  books  plainly  teach.  The 
maxim  is,  ubi  jus  incertum,  ubi  jus  nullum^  when 
the  law  is  uncertain,  there  is  no  law.  The  learned 
Judge  Pothier  says  :  ^^A  law  that  is  hopelessly 
obscure  is  of  no  binding  force,  and  no  person  can 
be  held  responsible  for  obedience  to  it."  Green- 
leaf  remarks  :    "  In  other  words,  in  merely  gener- 


12  IMMERSION. 

ally  speaking,  if  the  court,  placing  itself  in  the 
situation  in  which  the  testator  or  contracting  party 
stood  at  the  time  of  executing  the  instrument,  and 
with  full  understanding  of  the  force  and  import  of 
the  words,  cannot  ascertain  his  meaning  and  in- 
tention from  the  language  of  the  instrument  thus 
illustrated,  it  is  a  case  of  incurable  and  hopeless 
uncertainty,  and  the  instrument  is  so  far  inopera- 
tive and  void."    (On  Evid.  300.) 

Jesus  Christ  can  claim  no  authority  that  is  not 
expressed  in  his  commands;  and  it  would  be  a 
reflection  to  say  that  he  did  not  make  himself  per- 
fectly clear.  If  no  man  can  tell  what  the  commis- 
sion means,  or  if  it  means  any  one  of  a  dozen 
things,  then  is  baptism  not  binding  upon  us.  But 
such  a  proposition  is  at  once  sacrilegious  and  ab- 
surd. 

4.  The  expression  of  one  thing  is  the  exclusion 
of  another.  If  immersion  is  expressed,  then  is 
sprinkling  and  pouring  excluded.  There  is  ^'  one 
baptism,'^  and  not  three.  Coke  says :  '^  The  ap- 
pointment or  designation  of  one  is  the  exclusion  of 
another;  and  that  expressed  makes  that  which  is 
implied  to  cease. ''  (Coke-Lit.  210.)  And  Brown 
says  :  ^'  If  authority  is  given  expressly,  though  by 
affirmative  words,  upon  a  defined  condition,  the 
expression  of  that  condition  excludes  the  doing  of 


THE    LAW    OF   BAPTISM.  13 

the  act  authorized  under  other  circumstances  than 
those  so  defined.  ^'  (653.) 

Unquestionably  the  Scriptures  teach  that  baptism 
is  by  immersion,  and  aifusion  is  thus  rejected  by 
this  law  of  exclusion. 

5.  It  would  be  of  no  service  to  us  if  Christ  had 
commanded  us  to  be  baptized,  if  we  could  not 
know  what  he  meant.  Mr.  Coke  says  ;  "  It  avails 
little  to  know  what  ought  to  be  done,  if  you  do 
not  know  how  it  is  to  be  done.^'  "Where  any 
thing,"  says  Brown,  "  is  commanded,  every  thing 
by  which  it  is  to  be  accomplished  is  also  com- 
manded. "  (482.)  Certainly  there  would  be  no 
doubt  thrown  around  the  last  command  the  Son 
of  God  ever  gave. 

6.  Next  to  the  authority  of  the  New  Testament, 
which  is  paramount,  the  admissions  of  learned 
Pedobaptists  is  the  strongest  proof  we  can  possibly 
offer.  The  admission  of  the  adverse  party,  when 
deliberately  made,  is  the  strongest  authority  in  a 
court  of  law.  The  principle  is  the  same  whether 
applied  to  civil  or  criminal  matters.  Starkie  and 
Greenleaf  both  put  this  proposition  in  the  strongest 
terms.  Greenleaf  says  :  "  It  is  generally  agreed 
that  deliberate  confessions  of  guilt  are  among  the 
most  effectual  proofs  of  the  law.  Their  value 
depends  on  the  supposition  that  they  are  deliberate 


14  IMMERSION. 

and  voluntary,  and  on  the  presumption  that  a 
rational  being  will  not  make  admissions  prejudicial 
to  his  interest  and  safety,  unless  when  urged  by 
the  promptings  of  truth  and  conscience.  Such 
confessions,  so  made  by  a  prisoner,  at  any  moment 
of  time,  and  at  any  place,  subsequent  to  the  per- 
petration of  crime,  and  previous  to  his  examina- 
tion before  the  magistrate,  are  at  common  law 
received  in  evidence  as  among  proofs  of  guilt.  '^ 
(On  Evid.  215.) 

There  can  be  but  one  conclusion  in  regard  to 
the  hundreds  of  Fedobaptist  scholars  who  have 
admitted  that  baptism  was  originally  by  immersion. 
The  truth  forced  them  to  this  conclusion.  I  empha- 
size this  fundamental  "principle  of  the  law  of  evi- 
dence, that  the  admissions  of  the  adverse  party, 
against  his  interest  or  opinion,  is  the  best  of 
evidence  in  law,  and  is  an  estoppel  in  the  contro- 
versy. I  claim  that  the  admissions  of  the  best 
pedobaptist  scholars  of  this  and  every  other  age, 
forever  close  out  affusion  as  baptism. 

The  law  requires  absolute  obedience,  and  we 
have  no  right  to  change  or  in  any  wise  alter  its 
demands.  No  crime  is  greater  than  disobedience." 
(Jenks,  Cent.  Car.  77.)  ^^  Obedience  is  the  essence 
of  the  law.''  (11  Coke  100.)  Obedience  is  the 
crowning  grace   of  all.     It  is  that  "principle,   I 


THE  LAW   OF   BAPTISM.  15 

mean,  to  which  Polity  owes  its  stability,  Life  its 
happiness,  Faith  its  acceptance.  Creation  its  con- 
tinuance." This  is  the  principle  that  recognizes 
the  well  nigh  forgotten  truth  that  Christ  is  Lord 
as  well  as  Saviour.  It  is  a  far  reaching  truth,  and 
strict  obedience  to  it  carries  us  into  the  immediate 
presence  of  God.  No  more  significant  words  are 
in  the  Bible  than  those  of  Jesus  Christ,  "  Ye  are 
my  friends,  if  ye  do  whatsoever  I  have  com- 
manded you." 


16  IMMERSION. 

CHAPTER  II. 

WHAT  THE  LEXICONS  SAY. 

^TT"HEN  we  desire  the  definition  of  a  word  we 
^  ^  naturally  turn  to  a  dictionary,  or  lexicon,  for 
its  meaning.  This  I  now  do.  I  present  only  such 
authorities  as  I  have  before  me ;  and  take  no  state- 
ment at  second  hand.  These  writers  are  certainly 
competent  witnesses.  These  Greek  lexicons  were  not 
written  by  Baptists,  but  by  Pedobaptist  scholars. 
As  Mr.  Greenfield  expressed  it :  "I  wish  it  to  be 
distinctly  understood  that  I  am  neither  a  Baptist, 
nor  the  son  of  a  Baptist ;  nor  is  it  my  business  to 
make  a  defense  of  their  cause." 

Sometime  since  I  wrote  Dr.  Gross  Alexander, 
Professor  of  New  Testament  Exegesis  in  Vander- 
bilt,  the  great  Methodist  University  of  the  South, 
asking  him  kindly  to  mention  two  Greek  lexicons — 
one  on  Classical  and  the  other  on  the  New  Testament 
Greek,  that  he  regarded  as  the  very  best.  He  wrote 
by  return  mail,  in  reply:  "The  seventh  edition  of 
Liddell  and  Scott,  Harper  &  Bros.,  N.  Y.,  is  the 
best  Greek  lexicon  for  general  use.  I  emphasize 
seventh;  for  as  compared  with  former  editions  it  is 
a  new  book.    The  very  best  New  Testament  lexicon 


WHAT   THE   LEXICONS   SAY.  17 

ifi  that  of  J.  H.  Thayer,  Greek-English  lexicon,  pub- 
lished also  by  Harper  &  Bros.'' 

Dr.  C.  C.  Hersman,  President  of  the  Southwest- 
ern Presbyterian  University,  at  Clarksville,  Tenn., 
writes  me  under  date  of  Aug.  7th,  1890.  He  says : 
"In  English  the  best  Classical  Greek  lexicon  is 
Liddell  and  Scott,  the  last  edition.  It  is  based  on 
the  great  work  of  Passow.  In  the  New  Testament 
nothing  can  compare  with  the  lexicon  of  J.  H. 
Thayer  based  on  Grimra-Wilkes  Clavis  Novi  Testa- 
menti.  Robinson's  is  a  very  good  one.  But  Thayer, 
when  used  with  caution  and  intelligence,  is  par 
excellence.    He  gives  the  very  latest  results." 

No  name  among  Presbyterians  outranks  that  of 
C.  W.  Hodge,  Professor  of  New  Testament  Crit- 
icism in  Princeton  Theological  Seminary.  He 
writes,  Aug.  10th,  1890,  as  follows:  ''The  best 
Classical  Greek  lexicon  is  Liddell  and  Scott's.  The 
best  New  Testament  Lexicon  is  Thayer's  edition 
of  Grimm." 

No  scholar  is  likely  to  dissent  from  these  opin- 
ions. Liddell  and  Scott  are  learned  Episcopalian 
scholars  of  England.  I  turn  to  the  seventh  edition, 
the*  one  all  of  these  scholars  say  is  the  best,  p.  274, 
and  baptizo  is  defined,  "  to  dip  in  or  under  water." 
Not  a  word  is  said  about  sprinkling  or  pouring. 
That  witness  is  satisfactory  enough. 


18  IMMERSION. 

Prof.  J.  H.  Thayer,  the  author  of  the  Greek- 
English  Lexicon  of  the  New  Testament,  is  Prof,  of 
New  Testament  Criticism  and  Interpretation,  in 
the  Divinity  School  of  Harvard  University,  Cam- 
bridge, Mass.  On  p.  94,  I  read :  '^  Baptizo,  to  dip 
repeatedly,  to  immerse,  to  submerge.  In  the  New 
Testament  it  is  used  particularly  of  the  rite  of 
sacred  ablution,  first  instituted  by  John  the  Bap- 
tist, afterward  by  Christ's  command  received  by 
Christians  and  adjusted  to  the  nature  and  contents 
of  their  religion,  viz:  an  immersion  in  water." 
Under  baptmna  he  says,  "  a  word  peculiar  to  the 
N.  T.  and  ecclesiastical  writers,  immersion,  sub- 
mersion." 

To  make  assurance  doubly  sure  and  leave  not 
a  hook  to  hang  a  doubt  upon  I  give  the  testimony 
of  other  lexicons. 

Prof.  E.  A.  Sophocles,  a  native  Greek,  and  for 
thirty-eight  years  Professor  of  Greek  in  Harvard 
University,  in  his  lexicon  of  Greek  usages  in  the 
Roman  and  Byzantine  periods,  B.  C.  146-  A.  D. 
1100,  Boston  1887,  defines  baptizo,  "to  dip,  to  im- 
merse, to  sink.  There  is  no  evidence  that  Luke 
and  Paul  and  the  other  writers  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment put  upon  this  verb  meanings  not  recognized 
by  the  Greeks." 

J.  W.  Fradensdorf,  of  the  Taylor  Institute,  in 


WHAT    THE    LEXICONS    SAY.  19 

his  English-Greek  Lexicon,  London  1860,  defines 
baptizein  and  haptein  "  to  baptize,  to  dip.^^ 

Dr.  W.  Pope,  of  the  Berlin  Gymnasium,  1842, 
1870,  1880,  defines  baptizo,  "to  dip  in,  to  dip 
under.'' 

Wahl,  Clavis,  Leipzig  1853,  says:  '^ Baptizo ,  to 
dip,  to  dip  repeatedly,  to  immerse,  to  wash." 

E.  W.  Bullinger,  Greek  Lexicon  and  Concord- 
ance, London  1878,  p.  81,  says:  ^^Baptizo^  to 
make  a  thing  dipped  or  dyed,  to  immerse  for  a 
religious  purpose.  By  baptism  therefore  we  must 
understand  an  immersion,  whose  design,  like  that 
of  the  levitical  washings  and  purifications,  was 
united  with  the  washing  away  of  sin.'' 

Cremer,  Biblico-Theological  Greek  Lexicon  of 
the  New  Testament,  third  English  edition,  1883, 
p.  126 :  "  baptizo y  to  immerse,  to  submerge.  The 
peculiar  New  Testament  and  Christian  use  of  the 
word  to  denote  immersion,  submersion  for  a  relig- 
ious purpose — baptize." 

Ab.  H.  Stephanus,  Thesaurus  Graecse  Linguse, 
London  1821,  vol.  3,  p.  20,681,  "baptizo,  to  merge, 
to  immerse,  also  to  dip." 

Hedericus,  Lexicon,  London,  1755,  "baptizo, 
to  merge,  to  immerse,  to  wash  in  water." 

Bass,  London  1859,  p.  39,  "baptizo,  to  dip,  im- 
merse, or  plunge  in  water.     2nd.  To  baptize  figur- 


20  IMMERSION. 

atively,  to  be  immersed  in  suffering  or  affliction." 
Siiicer,    Thesaurus,    Amsterdam  •  1682,  p.   622, 

^^bapiizoj  to  immerse,  to  dip.'^ 

Scapula,    Geneva    1628,    p.   254,    Haptizo,  to 

merge,  to  immerse ;  also,  dye,  as  we  immerse  things 

for  the  purpose  of  coloring  or  washing  them.    Also 

to  immerse,  to  submerge,  to  wash  in  water." 
Stokius,  Clavis,  Leipzig    1752,   Haptizo,  by  the 

force  of  the  word  indicates  the  idea  of  dipping  or 

immersion.      Properly  speaking  it  is  a  dipping  or 

an  immersion  in  water." 

Schoettgenius,    Greek   Lexicon,    Lugudi,  Bala- 

vorum,  1755,  p.  107,  "baptizo,  1st,  properly  to  dip, 

to  immerse ;  2nd,  to  bathe,  to  wash." 

Schleusuer,  Glasgow,   vol.  1,  p.  338,   ^'baptizo, 

properly  to  immerse,  to  dip,  to  immerse  in  water." 
Schrevelius,  '^baptizo,  to  baptize,  to  dip." 
Simonis,  Halse,  1766,  Ha'ptizOy  to  dip." 
Green,  ^^baptizo,  to  dip,  to  immerse." 
Greenfield,  ^'baptizo,  to  immerse,  to  immerge,  to 

submerge,  to  sink." 

Donnegan,  ^^baptizo,  to  immerse  repeatedly  in  a 

liquid,  to  submerge." 

Groves,  ^^baptizo,  to  dip,  to  immerse,  to  immerge, 

to  plunge." 

Robinson,   ^'baptizo,  to   dip  in,  to  sink,  to    im- 


WHAT    THE    LEXICONS  SAY.  21 

G.  P.  Laftcarides,  London  1882,  p.  341,  "bapfizo, 
to  dip.'' 

Here  is  the  testimony  of  twenty-four  Greek 
lexicons  ;  and  every  one  of  them  gives  the  primary 
idea  of  dipping.  I  have  at  liand  the  testimony  of 
three  living  American  Bishops,  who,  while  they 
hold  to  affusion  on  other  accounts,  allow  dipping 
to  be  the  primaiy  meaning  of  the  word.  Bishop 
John  J.  Keane,  President  of  the  Catholic  Univer- 
sity of  America,  Washington,  D.  C,  says  ;  '^The 
best  dictionaries  show  the  classical  meaning  of  the 
Greek  word  baptizcin  is  primarily  to  plunge,  to  dip." 
Henry  C.  Potter,  Episcopal  Bishop  of  New  York, 
says  :  "  I  am  quite  free  to  say  that  the  literal  mean- 
ing of  bapfizo  as  ordinarily  found  in  classical 
writers  is,  usually  to  plunge,  to  dip,  immerse,  or 
whatever  word  you  want  to  strengthen  your  jK)si- 
tion."  The  next  is  Bishop  A.  Cleveland  Coxe,  the 
editor  of  the  American  edition  of  the  Ante-Nicene 
Fathers,  who  says  :     "  The  word  means  to   dip." 

We  can  therefore  say  in  the  none  too  strong  lan- 
guage of  Moses  Stuart,  the  late  eminent  Congre- 
gational scholar  of  Andover,  ''hapto  and  haptizo 
mean  to  dip,  to  plunge,  to  immerge,  into  any  thing 
liquid.  All  lexicographers  and  critics  of  any  note 
are  agreed  in  this."  (On  Bap.,  p.  51.)  I  have  here 
quoted    Methodist,    Episcopal,    Catholic,    Presby- 


9^) 


IMMEttSIOX, 


terian,  and  many  other  authorities.  All  these 
lexicons  give  dipping  as  the  primary  meaning;  and 
if  the  word  has  any  secondary  meaning  it  is  in 
accordance  with  this  idea.  The  dictionaries  are, 
therefore,  all  in  favor  of  dipping  as  the  primary 
meaning  of  this  word. 


WHAT   THE   CLASSICAL   WRITERS  SAY.         23 


CHAPTER  III. 

WHAT  THE  CLASSICAL  WRITERS  SAY. 

A  N  appeal  can  always  be  made  from  the  lex- 
^-^  icons  to  the  use  of  the  word  in  the  best 
authors.  I  now  appeal  to  the  classical  Greek 
authors.  I  shall  not  discuss  bapto,  but  confine  my- 
self to  baptizo,  the  word  used  for  baptize  in  the 
New  Testament.  I  shall  begin  with  the  oldest 
writer  who  used  this  word,  and,  in  chronological 
order,  give  the  statement  of  writers  covering  several 
hundred  years.  This  is  the  philological  order,  and 
if  the  word  means  to  sprinkle  or  pour,  we  will 
certainly  find  that  passage.  I  shall  give  later  the 
testimony  of  the  Greek  fathers ;  here  I  only  refer 
to  the  use  of  the  word  in  the  classics.  There  is 
no  higher  authority  than  this. 

Pindar,  B.  C.  522 :  "  For  as  when  the  rest  of 
the  tackle  is  toiling  deep  in  the  sea,  I  as  a  cork, 
above  the  net,  am  undipped  (abaptistos)  in  water." 

Plato,  B.  C.  429 :  "  I  perceiving  that  the  youtlr 
was  overwhelmed  (baptizomenon) ,  wishing  to  give 
him  respite,"  etc.  "I  was  one  of  those  who  yes- 
terday were  overwhelmed  in  wine.'' 

The  Homeric  Allegories,  B.  C.  400  :  "  The  ma^s 


24  IMMERSION. 

of  iron,  drawn  red  hot  from  the  furnace,  is  dipped 
(baptizelat)  in  water." 

Alcibiades,  B.  C.  400:  "You  dipped  (baptes)  me 
in  plays:  but  I  in  the  waves  of  the  sea  dipping 
(baptizon),  will  destroy  thee  with  streams  more 
bitter.'' 

Demosthenes,  B.  C.  385 :  "  Not  the  speakers,  for 
these  know  how  to  play  the  dipping  (diabapiizes- 
thai)  match  with  him,  but  the  inexperienced." 

Eubulus,  B.  C.  380:  "Who  now  the  fourth  day 
is  immersed  {baptizetai),  leading  the  famished  life 
of  a  miserable  mullet." 

Evenus  of  Paros,  B.  C.  250:  "  Bacchas  (the  use 
of  wine)  plunges  (baptizei)  in  sleep." 

Polybius,  B.  C.  205:  The  enemy  "made  con- 
tinued assaults  and  submerged  (ebaptizon)  many  of 
the  vessels."  The  vessel  "  being  submerged  (baptizo- 
mena)  became  filled  with  sea-water  and  confusion." 
"Even  if  the  spear  falls  into  the  sea.  it  is  not 
lost ;  for  it  is  compacted  of  oak  and  pine,  so  that 
when  the  oaken  part  is  immersed  (baptiztwicnon) 
by  the  weight,  the  rest  is  buoyed  up,  and  it  is 
easily  recovered."  "Themselv^es  by  themselves 
immersed  (baptizomenoi)  and  sinking  in  the  pools." 

Strabo,  B.  C.  60 :  "  To  one  who  hurls  down  a 
dart,  from  above  into  the  channel,  the  force  of  the 
water  makes  so  much  resistance,  that  it  is  hardly 


WHAT   THE   CLASSICAL   WRITERS   SAY.  25 

dipped  {baptizesthai)r  "And  he  who  enters  into 
it  is  not  immersed  (baptkesthai) ,  but  is  lifted  out." 
"The  water  solidifies  so  rapidly  around  ever>' 
thing  that  is  dipped  into  it  (Lake  Tatta)  that  they 
draw  up  salt  crowns  when  they  let  down  a  circle 
of  rushes." 

Diodorus,  B.  C.  60:  "The  river  rushing  down 
with  the  current  increased  in  violence,  immersed 
(ebaptize)  many."  "Most  of  the  wild  animals  are 
surrounded  by  the  stream  and  perished,  being  sub- 
merged {baptizomena) ;  but  some  escaping  to  the 
high  grounds,  are  saved."  "His  ship  being  sub- 
merged (baptistheisas)."  "They  do  not  whelm 
(baptizomi)  the  common  people  with  taxes." 

Conon,  about  A.  D.  1 :  "  Having  whelmed  {baj)- 
tisam)  with  much  wine  and  put  him  to  sleep." 

Josephus,  A.  D.  37:  "And  stretching  out  the 
right  hand,  so  as  to  be  unseen  by  any,  he  plunged 
the  whole  sword  into  his  body."  There  are  thir- 
teen other  examples  in  Josephus  all  in  the  sense 
of  dipping. 

Philo,  the  Jew,  A.  D.  50  :  "  The  reason  was 
whelmed  {baptizomenou)  by  the  things  overlying  it.'' 
Plutarch,  A.  D.  50  :  "A  bladder,  then  mayest  be 
dipped  {baptize)  ]  but  it  is  not  possible  for  thee  to 
sink."  "  The  soldiers  along  the  whole  way,  dipping 
{baptizontes)    with   cups,   and   horns,  and   goblets, 


26  IMMERSION. 

from  great  wine  jars  and  mixing  bowls,  were  drink- 
ing to  one  another/'  Thirteen  other  times  is  the 
word  used  in  Plutarch  in  the  sense  of  to  dip. 

Epictetus,  A.  D.  50 :  "  You  would  not  wish,  sail- 
ing in  a  large  and  polished,  and  richly  gilded  ship, 
to  be  submerged  (haptizesthai).^^ 

Demetrius,  the  Sidonian,  A.  D.  50 :  "  She  is  not 
wholly  dipped  (bebaptisthai),  but  rises  above." 

Alciphron,  A.  D.  150 :  "  If  I  am  to  see  all  the 
rivers,  life  to  me  will  be  whelmed  (baptiathasetai), 
not  beholding  Glycera." 

Lucian,  the  man-hater,  A.  D.  135:  *^  If  the  win- 
ter's torrent  were  bearing  one  away,  and  he  with 
outstretched  hands  were  imploring  help,  to  thrust 
even  him  headlong,  dipping  (baptizonta) ,  so  that 
he  should  not  be  able  to  come  up  again."  "He 
seems  like  one  heavy-headed  and  whelmed  {bebap- 
tismeno).^* 

Polysenus,  A.  D.  150:  "  Philip  did  not  give  over 
dipping  (diabaptizomenos)  in  a  match  with  the  pan- 
cratiast,  and  sprinkling  {rainomenos)  water  in  his 
face,  until  the  soldiers,  wearied  out,  dispersed." 

Dion  Cassius,  A.  D.  150:  "And  others  leaping 
into  the  sea  were  drowned,  or,  struck  by  the  en- 
emy, were  submerged  (ebaptizonto).''^  There  are 
seven  other  examples  of  dipping  in  this  writer. 

Plotinus,  A.  D.  205:   "Death  to  her  while  yet 


WHAT    THE    CLASSICAL    WKITERS   SAY.  27 

immersed  (bebaptismena)  in  the  body,  is  to  be  sunk 
in  matter.'^  "  But  now,  since  a  part  of  us  is  con- 
tained by  the  body,  as  if  one  has  the  feet  in  water, 
but  with  the  rest  of  the  body  stands  out  above, 
towering  up  by  what  is  not  immersed  (baptisthenti) 
in  the  body,  we  by  this  arc  attached,  as  to  our  own 
center,  with  that  which  is  the  center  of  all."  "  He 
does  not  continue  happy,  whelmed  (baptistheis) 
either  with  diseases  or  with  arts  of  magicians." 

Aristopheu,  A.  D.  210:  "Then  whelming  {bap- 
tisas)  potently  with  wine,  he  set  me  free.'^ 

Porphyra,  A.  D.  233 :  "  When  the  accused  an- 
swers to  it,  if  he  is  guiltless,  he  goes  through  with- 
out fear,  having  the  water  as  far  as  to  the  knees; 
but  if  guilty,  after  proceeding  a  little  way,  he  is 
immersed  (baptizetai)  unto  the  head." 

Heimerius,  A.D.  315:  "I  will  show  you  also  my 
soldiers;  one  fighting  life-like  even  in  the  painting 
,  .  .  and  another  dipping  (baptlzonta)  with  his 
hands  the  Persian  fleet."  "  He  was  great  at  Sala- 
mis ;  for  there,  fighting,  he  whelmed  {ebaptise)  all 
Asia." 

Libanius,  A.  D.  315 :  "  I  myself  am  one  of  those 
immersed  (baptmnenon)  by  that  great  wave."  He 
used  the  word  nine  other  times  to  dip. 

Themistius,  A.  D.  375 :  "  The  pilot,  whether  he 
eaves  in  the  voyage  one  whom  it  were  better  to 


28  IMMEE8ION. 

submerge  (baptisai)J^  *'  Overwhelmed  {haptizomf- 
noii)  by  grief?' 

The  Argooautic  Expedition,  A.  D.  375 :  "  But 
when  Titon  dipped  himself  into  the  ocean  stream.^' 

Chariton,  A.  D.  375 :  "  Overwhelmed  {baptizo- 
menos)  by  design."  "Overwhelmed  {ebaptizeto)  as 
to  the  soul."  "Overwhelmed  {baptizomenon)  in  a 
calm." 

Heliodorus,  A.D.  390 :  "Already  becoming  dipped 
(baptizomenon) y  and  wanting  little  of  sinking,  some 
of  the  pirates  attempted  to  leave  and  get  aboard 
of  their  ow^n  bark."  "  Slaying  some  on  land,  and 
plunging  {baptizonton)  others  with  their  boats  and 
huts  into  the  lake."  There  are  four  other  exam- 
ples in  Heliodorus. 

Proclus,  A.  D.  412:  "The  lo-Bacchus  was  sung 
at  festivals  and  sacrifices  of  Bacchus,  immersed 
(bebaptismenon)  with  much  wantonness." 

Achilles  Tatius,  A.  D.  450:  ''They  dip  (ha^- 
tizousi)  into  the  water,  therefore,  a  pole  smeared 
with  pitch,  and  open  the  barriers  of  the  stream." 
"  They  who  behold  suppose  the  steel  is  plunged 
(baptizesthai)  down  the  body,  but  it  runs  back  into 
the  hollow  of  the  hilt." 

Julian,  A.  D.  525 :  "  As  I  was  once  trimming 
a  garland,  I  found  Cupid  in  the  roses  ;  and  hold- 
ing by  the  wings,  I  dipped  {ebaptisa)  him  into  wine 


WHAT    THE   CLASSICAL   WRITERS   SAY.  29 

and  took  him  and  drank  him,  and  now  within  my 
members  he  tickles  with  his  wings/' 

Simplicius,  A.  D.  650 :  ''  Beauty  in  bodies,  is  in 
flesh  and  sinews  and  things  that  make  up  the  body, 
of  animals,  for  example  ;  beautifying  them,  indeed, 
as  much  as  possible,  but  also  itself  partaking  of 
their  deformity,  and  immersed  (bebaptismenon)  into 
it/' 

Eustathius,  A.  D.  1100:  "My  whole  mind  was 
overwhelmed  (katabaptistheis)  with  the  affliction." 
'^My  spirit  thou  didst  overwhelm  {Icatebaptisas), 
surging  round,  with  whole  seas  of  wailings." 
**  Strives  to  overwhelm  (katabaptisai)  the  whole 
vessel  with  the  waves." 

I  have  here  quoted  thirty-three  authors,  and 
have  given  fifty-six  examples  of  the  use  of  the 
word  in  these  writers.  These  authors  cover  a  pe- 
riod of  over  sixteen  hundred  years,  commencing 
with  Pindar,  B.  C.  522,  and  ending  with  Eusta- 
thius in  the  eleventh  century  A.  D.  The  invari- 
able meaning  of  the  word  in  all  of  these  passages 
is  to  dip,  or  some  word  which  conveys  the  same 
idea.  So  clear  is  this  that  Prof.  Stuart  says :  "  It 
is  impossible  to  doubt  that  the  words  bapto  and 
baptizo  have,  in  the  Greek  classical  writers,  the 
nense  of  dip,  plunge,  immerse,  sink,  etc."  (Bap. 
p.  56.) 


30  IMMERSION. 

The  only  possible  objection  that  can  be  made  to 
this  meaning  is  where  the  classical  writers  use  such 
phrases  as  "overwhelmed  in  wine,"  "overwhelmed 
in  sleep/^  "  overwhelmed  in  sorrow,"  etc. ;  but  even 
here  the  idea  is  an  immersion.  But  this  figure  of 
speech  is  common  in  all  languages  and  with  almost 
every  word.  In  the  Latin  this  figure  is  very  com- 
mon. Livy  says,  ^' Mersus  vino  sornnoque/'  or  Vir- 
gil's "  Somno  vinoque  f^epidfus/'  immersed  or  buried 
in  wine;  and  Seneca  speaks  of  the  ^^ pofatio  qvm 
mergit,^^  the  drink  which  immerses.  In  Shakspeare 
we  read : 

"  Who  dipping  sd"!  his  faults  in  their  affection's 
Mould,  like  the  spring  that  turneth  wood  into  stone, 
Convert  his  gyves  into  graces." — Hamlet,  iv.  7. 

Cowper  sings  of  one : 

"  Immersed  in  soft  repose  ambrosial." 

We  can  therefore  say  without  a  doubt  that  baj^- 
tizOy  in  classical  writers,  means  to  dip. 


DOES    BAPTIZO    MEAN    TO    DROWN.  31 


CHAPTER  IV. 

DOES  BAPTIZO  NECESSARILY  MEAN  TO   DROWN, 
IN  CLASSICAL  GREEK? 

TT  is  wonderful  how  many  inventions  there  are 
^  to  distort  this  simple  Greek  word  ^^dip.^'  There 
is  a  theory  gaining  ground  in  many  places  that 
whenever  the  word  is  used  in  tlassioal  Greek,  of 
persons,  it  means  more  than  a  dipping ;  it  includes 
the  idea  of  drowning,  or  a  complete  loss  of  life. 
Granting,  for  the  sake  of  argument,  this  to  be  true, 
how  could  it  help  the  cause  of  sprinkling?  Surely 
the  "sevenfold  dipping"  of  Naaman,  and  the  bap- 
tism of  the  thousands  by  John  in  the  Jordan,  was 
not  a  drowning.  I  have  at  hand  the  opinion  of 
three  learned  professors  of  Greek.  They  have  stud- 
ied the  Greek  language  and  literature  for  years  and 
they  have  found  no  such  meaning. 

The  first  is  Prof  M.W.  Humphreys,  of  the  Uni- 
versity of  Virginia.     He  says  : 

University  of  Virginia,  \ 
March  27,  1890.  i 

My  Dear  Sir, — The  term  "  classical  Greek  ^Ms  a 

little  ambiguous.     If  profane  literature  is  meant, 

there  is  certainly  nothing  in  the  theory  you  men- 


32  IMMERSION. 

tion.  If  classical  Attic  prose  is  meant,  the  word  is 
too  rarely  used  in  that  to  justify  any  such  generali- 
zation. The  word  ordinarily  has  a  figurative  use 
in  "classical  Greek/'  such  as  overwhelm,  as  when 
a  boy  is  flooded  with  questions,  or  a  man  is  over 
head  and  ears  in  debt.  But  see  the  quotation  from 
Hippocrates  in  Liddell  and  Scott's  Lexicon. 

Yours  sincerely,         M.  W.  Humphreys. 

Dr.  J.  H.  Thayer,  of  Harvard  Divinity  School, 
is  even  more  explicit: 

Cambridge,  Mass.,  67  Sparks  St.,  \ 
March  17,  1890.  i" 

Dear  Sir, — In  reply  to  your  inquiry  of  the  14th 

inst.,  permit  me  to  say  that  the  Greek  word  bap- 

tizOj  when  used  physically  in  reference  to  persons, 

often  describes  an  experience  which  issues  in  death. 

But  that  the  word  does  not  always  carry  with  it  the 

idea  of  drowning  or  complete  loss  of  life,  is  evident 

from  many  extant  examples,  which  are  to  be  found 

alike  in  the  larger  Greek  lexicons  and  such  special 

works  as  "Classic  Baptism,"  by  J.  W.  Dale,  1867, 

or  "  Meaning  and  Use  of  Baptizein/^  etc.,  by  T.  J. 

Conant,  N.  Y.  1864.      Let  it  suffice  to  set  down 

two:   Polybius,  who  died  before  Christ  122,  in  his 

History,  bk.  3,  ch.  72,  sec.  4,  describing  the  passage 

of  soldiers  through  the  river  Febia,  which  had  been 

swollen  during  the  night  by  a  heavy  shower,  says, 


DOES   BAPTIZO   MEAN   TO   DROWN.  33 

*  ^mogis  heos  tou  mastou  hoipezoi  haptizomenoi^  dia- 
perosi^'^ :  i.  e.  they  cross  with  difficulty,  those  on 
foot  baptized  as  far  as  the  breast.  Again,  Strabo, 
who  died  A.D.  24,  in  his  Geography,  bk.l4,  ch.  3. 
sec.  9,  describing  the  march  of  Alexander's  army  on 
one  occasion,  says,  ^^holan  tan  luimeranen  hudati 
genesthai  tan  porelan  siineba  raechri  omphcdon  hap- 
tizomenon^\'  i.  e.  it  happened  that  the  whole  day 
long  the  march  was  made  in  water,  the  men  being 
immersed  (baptized)  up  to  the  naval. 

Figuratively,  the  word  is  used,  as  you  are  aware, 
of  one  drowned  in  grief,  overwhelmed  with  care, 
immersed  in  debt,  over  head  and  ears  in  love,  etc., 
etc. ;  and  no  more  excludes  of  necessity  the  notion 
of  ultimate  rescue  than  such  expressions  in  English 
do. 

In  short,  the  word,  intrinsically  and  in  the  clas- 
sic use,  no  more  implies  that  the  immersed  person 
of  necessity  loses  his  life  thereby,  than  when  used  of 
the  rite  of  Christian  baptism  it  implies  the  drown- 
ing of  every  person  immersed. 

Yours  truly,        J.  Henry  Thayer. 

Dr.  Harnack,  the  greatest  living  Church  histo- 
rian, of  the  University  of  Berlin,  writes  under  date 
of  April  2nd,  1890:  ^^  But  this  meaning  does  not 
necessarily  lie  in  the  meaning  of  the  word.     One 


34  IMMERSION. 

can  be  dipped  (sunk)  in  the  water  without  being 
drowned.  The  passages  in  which  the  word  in  ref- 
erence to  persons  appears  in  the  classic  authors, 
are,  so  far  as  I  know,  not  very  numerous,  so  that 
we  can  not  set  up  a  constant  usage. '^ 

These  scholars  state  most  positively  that  haptizo 
does  not  intrinsically  mean  to  "drown.'' 

Besides  the  two  examples  mentioned  by  Dr. 
Thayer,  we  have  one  in  Hippocrates,  to  which 
Prof.  Humphreys  refers.  Hippocrates  describing 
the  respiration  of  a  patient  affected  with  inflam- 
mation and  swelling  of  the  throat,  and  oppressed 
about  the  heart,  says:  "And  she  breathed  as  per- 
sons breathe  after  having  been  dipped,  and  emit- 
ted a  low  sound  from  the  chest,  like  the  so-called 
ventriloquist."  This  is  certainly  decisive.  Jose- 
phus,  in  his  Antiquities,  bk.  15,  ch.  3,  3,  describ- 
ing the  murder  of  the  boy,  Aristobulus,  who  was 
drowned,  by  the  command  of  Herod,  by  his  com- 
panions in  a  swimming  pool,  says:  "Continually 
pressing  down  and  dipping  (baptizontes)  him  while 
swimming,-  as  if  in  sport,  they  did  not  desist  till 
they  had  entirely  suffocated  him.''  If  baptizo  was 
equivalent  to  drowning,  there  would  have  been  no 
necessity  of  repeatedly  dipping  him.  I  give  only 
one  more  example,  and  that  from  Josephus  also. 
He  says  of  the  Jews,  in  describing  their  contest 


DOES    BAPTIZO    MEAN    TO    DROWN.  35 

with  the  Roman  soldiers  on  the  Sea  of  Galilee: 
"  And  when  they  ventured  to  come  near,  they  suf- 
fered harm  before  they  could  inflict  any,  and  were 
submerged  (ebaptizonto)  along  with  their  vessels 
.  .  .  and  those  of  the  immersed  {bapthth&titoi}) 
who  raised  their  heads,  either  a  missile  reached  or 
a  vessel  overtook/'  If  haptlzo  meant  to  drown, 
these  persons  would  not  have  raised  their  heads, 
nor  would  there  have  been  any  necessity  that  a 
vessel  should  overtake  them.  It  is  a  drowning 
cause  that  demands  any  such  subterfuge. 

I  close  this  argument  with  the  statements  of 
two  learned  German  writers. 

Witsius,  vol.  3,  p.  368,  London  1785,  .says: 
*^  Baptizo  is  altogether  something  more  than  epi- 
polazeinj  to  float  on  the  surface ;  but  less  than 
dunein,  to  go  to  the  bottom  and  perish.'' 

Fritzche,  Com.  on  Matth.  vol.  1,  p.  120,  Leip- 
zig 1826,  says:  "Moreover,  Casaubon  well  sug- 
gested that  dunein  means  to  be  submerged  with 
the  design  that  you  may  perish ;  epipolazein,  to 
float  on  the  surface  of  the  water ;  baptizesthai,  to 
immerse  oneself  wholly,  for  another  purpose  than 
that  you  may  perish.  But  that,  in  accordance  with 
the  nature  of  the  word  baptizesthai,  baptism  was 
then  performed,  not  by  sprinkling  upon,  but  by 
suhmerging,  is  proved  especially  by  Rom.  vi :  4." 


36  IMMERSION, 


CHAPTER  Y. 

WHAT  THE  SEPTUAGINT  SAYS. 

"FN  the  Greek  version  of  the  Old  Testament  the 
-^  word  baptizo  occurs  only  twice:  ''and  Naaman 
went  down  and  dipped  himself  seven  times  in  the 
Jordan"  ( 2  Kings  5  :  14 ) ;  and  "  My  iniquity  over- 
whelms {baptlzei)  me."  ( Isa.  21 :  4.)  The  root  word 
bapto  is  frequently  used  in  the  sense  of  to  dip,  and 
is  so  used  seventeen  times  in  the  Old  Testament. 
The  Hebrew  word  that  corresponds  with  baptizo 
is  tabhal. 

I  present  the  testimony  that  tabhal  means  to  dip  : 
1.    It  is  so  defined  in  the  Lexicons.     Gesenius, 
the  best  authority,  says :  "  to  dip,  to  dip  in,  to  im- 
merse." 

Buxtorf,  London  ed.  1646,  p.  264,  says:  "to 
dip,  to  dip  in,  to  immerse." 

E.  Castello,  Lexicon  Heptaglotton,  London  1669, 
vol.  1,  p.  1462:  "To  dip,  to  dip  in,  to  immerse 
(Eng.  to  dip  or  to  babble).  It  differs  from  rahats^ 
which  means  to  wash  a  thing." 

Davies,  Andover  1879  :  "to  dip  in,  to  sink  into.'* 
Gibbs,  New  Haven  1832:  "to  dip  in,  immerse." 
De  Bernadus  de  Mauntfaucon,  Paris  1713,  Hex- 


WHAT   THE    SEPTUAGINT   SAYS.  37 

aplorum  Orgines,  vol.  1,  p.  441:  "to  dip  or  to 
immerse." 

Parkhurst,  London  1823,  p.  215,  says :  "  to  dip, 
to  immerse,  to  plunge." 

Schaff,  Lugduni  1786,  p.  62 :  "  to  merge,  to  im- 
merse." 

Stokius,  Clairs,  Leipzig  1653,  p.  421 :  "  to  dip, 
to  dip  in,  to  immerse. " 

Schindlero,  licxicon  Pentaglotton,  Hanover  1612, 
p.  686  says:  "to  dip,  to  dip  in,  to  immerse." 

Simonis,  edited  by  G.  B.  Miner:  "to  dip,  to  dip 
in,  to  immerse." 

The  testimony  of  these  eleven  lexicons  is  for  dip- 
ping. 

2.  The  usus  loquendi  of  the  word  is  in  favor  of 
dipping.  Tahhal  is  translated  fifteen  times  in  King 
James'  version  by  dip;  plunge  once;  dyed  once, 
because  dyeing  was  done  by  dipping.  (Gesenius, 
Lex.  p.  358.)  Only  once  is  tabhal  thus  translated, 
and  in  this  instance  the  reading  is  doubtful.  Our 
own  Milton  speaks  of  colors  dipped  in  heaven. 
Prof  Stuart  refers  to  sixteen  of  these  examples, 
and  translates  ten  by  dipping,  three  smearing  on 
by  dipping,  two  by  plunge,  and  one  by  color. 
Luther  translated  sixteen  times  by  dip,  and  once 
to  dye.  The  Greek,  German,  and  English  trans- 
lators all  render  tabhal  to  dip.     Any  person  famil- 


38  IMMERSION. 

iar  with  the  Hebrew  would  not  fail  to  notice  that 
the  construction  of  tabhal  is  totally  different  from 
any  word  which  means  to  sprinkle  or  to  pour,  and 
is  followed  by  a  diiferent  class  of  prepositions.  It 
usually  takes  the  accusative  Avith  the  preposition 
b,  in.  Besides,  the  Hebre^\•  has  words  meaning  to 
sprinkle  and  to  pour,  but  they  are  never  used  in- 
terchangeably with  UihhdL 

There  is  another  word  in  the  Hebrew  Bible  of 
kindred  signification  to  tabhal.  It  is  the  Chaldee 
tabhal.  The  Jerusalem  Targum,  Jonathan's  Para- 
phrase, and  Onkelos  all  use  it  in  the  sense  of  to 
dip ;  and  in  the  Jerusalem  Targum  it  translates 
tabhal  in  Lev.  iv :  6.  It  appears  in  Dan.  iv :  33, 
and  v:  31,  where  Nebuchadnezzar  was  "wet  with 
the  dew  of  heaven."  It  is  defined  by  Gesenius, 
^^to  sink,  to  press  in."  The  primary  syllable  tbh 
in  the  Western  languages  expresses  depth  and  im- 
mersion (p.  353).  The  Greek  in  these  passages  is 
bapto,  to  dip.  The  idea  is  that  the  dew  was  so  co- 
pious that  the  king  was  as  wet  as  if  he  had  been 
dipped.  Any  one  who  has  read  English  lit- 
erature will  often  find  this  idea.  Turn  to  Milton's 
Comus,  line  814 : 

"  A  cold  shuddering  dew  dips  me  all  over." 

John  Wesley,  in  speaking  of  an  anxious  sinner, 
says:  "On  Thursday  he  wTCstled  with  God  till  he 


WHAT   THE   SEPTUAGINT   SAYS.  39 

was  wet  all  over  with  sweat  as  if  he  had  been  dipped 
in  water/'  (Journal,  vol.  2,  p.  152.)  And  Webster 
gives  as  a  definition  of  the  word  "  wet/'  to  dip  or 
to  soak  in  liquor. 

There  are  three  other  Hebrew  words  in  as  many 
difTerent  passages  which  are  translated  by  bapto  and 
haptizo,  but  as  they  have  not  the  same  root  I  will 
briefly  notice  them.     Lev.  xi :  32:  ''The  unclean 
thing  must  be  put  into  water  (haphasetai),  and  it 
shall  be  unclean  until  the  evening. ' '    The  Hebrew 
is  habha,  and  is  defined  by  Gesenius,  "to  hide,  to 
conceal."     The  thing  is  hid  in  water,  and  hence 
dipped.      Ps.  Ixviii:  23:   "That  thy  foot  may  be 
dipped  {ba2:)ta)  in  the  blood  of  thine  enemies,  and 
the  tongue  of  thy  dogs  in  the  same.''     The  He- 
brew is  nmhats.     The  Lexicons  translate  this  pas- 
sage as  the  English  version  has  done.     The  same 
root  is  found  in  "  depths  of  the  sea,"  in  verse  22d. 
Tsa.   xxi:    4:    "My   heart  panteth,  fearfulness   af- 
frighted me."     The  Hebrew  biHh  is  translated  by 
the  Greek  baptisei,  to  dip.     Stuart  renders,  "My 
iniquity  overwhelms  me."    The  idea  is  that  he  was 
oversvhelmed  by  terror. 

3.  I  shall  refer  to  some  examples  taken  from 
the  Talmud— later  Jewish  writers  than  the  Bible. 
It  will  be  seen  that  tabhal  is  invariably  used  in 
the  sense  of  to  dip,  or  to  cover  over  with  water. 


40  IMMERSION. 

"A  vessel  must  be  dipped  to  render  it  ceremo- 
nially clean"  (folio  75). 

"The  child  of  a  heathen  shall  be  dipped  {tahhal), 
according  to  the  decision  of  the  Sanhedrim. "  (Trea- 
tise Chetubeth,  f.  11.) 

"No  one  is  to  be  considered  a  proselyte  until 
he  be  circumcised  and  dipped  {tabhal) ;  he  is  to  be 
considered  as  a  heathen." 

The  Talmud  Tract  Repuduu,  speaking  of  Jethro, 
Moses'  father-in-law,  says :  "  He  was  made  a  pros- 
elyte by  circumcision  and  immersion  in  water." 

Rabbi  Judah  Hadzodesh,  A.D.  220,  says:  "As  to 
a  proselyte,  who  becomes  a  proselyte  in  the  even- 
ing of  the  passover,  the  followers  of  Shammai  say, 
Let  him  be  dipped  (tabhal)  and  let  him  eat  the  pass- 
over  in  the  evening. "  (Tract  Pheshuim  cviii,  s.  8.) 

According  to  the  Jerusalem  Talmud,  Tract  Pe- 
sah,  Eliazer,  the  son  of  Jacob,  is  represented  as  say- 
ing "  that  some  Roman  soldiers  who  kept  guard  at 
Jerusalem,  at  the  passover,  being  dipped  {tahhat)  in 
the  evening  of  the  passover.  " 

To  discuss  the  subject  of  proselyte  baptism  re- 
ferred to  above  is  no  part  of  my  object.  That  bap- 
tism was  by  dipping,  and  expressed  by  the  Hebrew 
tabhalf  to  cite  authorities  for  this  purpose  is  need- 
less. 

That  the  washing  of  the  Jews  was  an  immersion^ 


WHAT   THE    SEPTUAGINT   SAYS.  41 

does  noi  admit  of  a  doubt.  The  facts  all  point  that 
way.  "  From  an  early  period,"  says  the  Encyclo- 
paedia Britannica,  9th  ed.  vol.  3,  p.  434,  ^^  the  Jews 
bathed  in  running  water,  used  both  hot  and  cold 
baths,  and  employed  oils  and  ointments." 

Dr.  Hibbard,  the  well  known  Methodist  writer, 
says :  "  Within  this  climate  lies  the  land  of  Pales- 
tine. It  is  such  a  climate  as  originated  the  demand 
for  baths  and  pools  and  fountains  throughout  the 
East,  and  made  the  practice  of  bathing  to  be  com- 
mon ;  and  we  repeat  it,  it  was  this  universal  cus- 
tom of  bathing — a  custom  so  indispensable  to  pleas- 
ure, to  decency,  to  health  among  the  Orientals — 
which,  more  than  anything  else,  gave  a  bias  to  their 
minds  to  immersion  instead  of  aifusion. "  (Hibbard 
on  Bapt.  P.  2,  p.  152.) 

4.  I  will  let  some  Jewish  scholars  speak,  and 
they  certainly  understand  their  own  language  and 

customs. 

Maimonides  was  born  A.  D.  1131,  at  Cordova, 
and  died  in  1204.  He  is  called  the  Eagle  of  the 
Doctors  and  the  Lamp  of  Israel.  He  was  pro- 
foundly versed  in  the  languages  and  in  all  the 
learning  of  the  age,  and  became  the  physician  of 
the  Sultan  of  Egypt.  He  says:  ''Every  person 
must  dip  his  whole  body  ...  and  whereso- 
ever in  the  law  washing  of  the  body  or  garments  is 


42  IMMEKSIOX. 

mentioned,  it  means  nothing  else  than  the  whole 
body.  For  if  any  wash  himself  all  over,  except  the 
tip  of  his  little  finger,  he  is  still  in  his  uncleanness. 
And  if  any  have  much  hair,  he  must  wash  all  the 
hairs  of  his  head ;  for  that  also  was  received  for  the 
body.  But  if  any  should  enter  into  the  water  with 
their  clothes  on,  yet  their  washing  holds  good." 

Leo  of  Modena,  Rabbi  of  Venice,  says:  "He  who 
desires  to  become  a  Jew,  is  first  circumcised,  and  a 
few  days  afterwards  is  bathed  in  water  in  the  pres- 
ence of  three  Rabbis  who  have  examined  him.''  (De 
Rit.  et  Usis  Judseorum,  par.  1,  c.  3.) 

I  addressed  a  letter  to  the  two  distinguished  Rab- 
bis mentioned  below,  and  they  very  promptly  re- 
sponded. Rabbi  Wise  is  widely  known  as  a  Jewish 
writer,  scholar  and  preacher.     He  said  ; 

Cincinnati,  Ohio,  Jan.  3rd,  1883. 
Dear  Sir, — Tahhal  signifies  to  submerge  in  a  fluid 
or  to  dip  a  body  into  it,  as  is  evident  from  numer- 
ous passages  of  Scripture.    It  is  not  rahats^  to  wash, 
nor  nazah,  to  sprinkle.  Yours, 

Isaac  M.  Wise. 

I  here  give  the  testimony  of  Rabbi  B.  Felsen- 
thal,  who  is  an  orator  of  recognized  ability,  and 
has  charge  of  one  of  the  largest  synagogues  in  this 
country : 


WHAT    THE    SEPTUAGINT    SAYS.  43 

Chicago,  Jan.  1st,  1883. 
Dear  Sir, — Your  letter  of  Dec.  28th  has  been 
duly  received.  In  answer  I  beg  to  state  the  fol- 
lowing: It  seems  to  me  almost  indisputable  that 
the  verb  tabhal  means  to  dip  or  to  immerse.  A 
comparison  of  all  the  passages  in  the  Old  Testa- 
ment in  which  said  verb  is  found — Gen.  xxxvii : 
31;  Ex.  xii:  22;  Lev.  iv:  6;  alsoxiv:  6,51;  Num. 
xix:  18;  Deut.  xxxiii :  24;  etc. — reveals  the  fact 
that  in  almost  all  of  these  passages  the  fluid  is  men- 
tioned with  b  prefixed  {baddam),  into  which  the  ob- 
ject of  the  act  is  to  be  tabhal ;  when  sprinkling  or 
squirting  is  meant,  the  verb  zaraq,  followed  by  the 
preposition  al,  upon,  is  employed.  (See  f.  i.  Ex. 
xxiv:  6,  8;  xxix  :  16,  20;  Lev.  xvii :  6;  i:  5,  11; 
iii:  2,  8,  13;  etc.)  But  aside  from  grammatical 
considerations  and  from  the  application  of  the  word 
tabhal  in  the  Old  Testament,  there  are  historical 
facts  which  prove  beyond  any  doubt  that  tabhal, 
with  the  Jews  in  the  times  contemporary  with  Je- 
sus and  the  Apostles,  meant  to  immerse.  The  cases 
in  consequence  of  which  Israelites  could  become 
levitically  unclean  were  very  numerous.  Ever\' 
one  A^ho  had  touched  a  corpse,  f.  i.  every  woman 
in  her  menstruation,  etc.,  was  unclean,  and  had  to 
be  cleansed  by  tebilah.  By  this  Neo-Hebraic  noun, 
derived  from   the  biblical  word  tabhal,  the  Jews 


44  immp:r.siox. 

eighteen  and  nineteen  Inindred  years  ago,  and  in 
all  subsequent  ages,  designated  immersion ;  and 
the  Mishna,  the  whole  Talmudic  literature,  is  full 
of  pharisaic  details  concerning  the  tebUah,  setting 
forth  the  minimum  size  of  the  bathing  vessels  or 
of  the  natural  basins,  the  volume  of  the  water  re- 
quired, the  nature  of  the  water  to  be  used  in  the 
act  of  purification.  Historical  allusions  to  tcbilah 
which  had  actually  taken  j)lace  are  also  numerous ; 
and  a  whole  book  might  be  filled  if  every  thing 
that  has  been  written  by  Jews  concerning  this 
matter,  in  the  earliest  Christian  centuries,  would 
be  collected,  and  sifted  and  systematized,  and  com- 
mented upon.  But  this  would  be  a  work  requiring 
long  researches,  and,  consequently,  several  months' 
time. 

The  levitical  laws  concerning  levitical  purifica- 
tions have  become  dead  letters  since  the  destruc- 
tion of  the  temple  in  the  year  70  A.  L).  Only  in 
one  instance  are  they  still  applied  in  the  present 
day — by  the  very  strict  among  the  so-called  ortho- 
dox Jews.  Women,  after  the  ])eriod  of  their  men- 
struation is  over,  take  a  bath  of  purification.  In 
the  common  parlance  of  the  Jews  of  to-day  it  is 
called  by  the  traditional  name  of  tebilah,  and  for 
the  act  the  verb  tahhal  is  used  ;  and  this  tchiUih  is 
always  an  immersion.     If  there  are  any  Jews  in 


WHAT    THE    SEPTUAGINT    SAYS.  45 

your  neighborhood,  who  are  in  the  least  acquainted 
with  the  usage  of  their  people,  they  will  corrobo- 
rate you  in  this  statement. 

I  have  attempted,  dear  sir,  to  answer  your  ques- 
tion as  fully  as  can  be  done  in  a  letter,  and  in  the 
.short  time  to  me  for  this  answer.  I  shall  be  very 
glad  if  it  gives  you  some  satisfaction. 

With  the  best  regards, 

Yours  truly,         B.  Felsenthal. 

I  also  addressed  a  letter  to  Prof.  Franz  Delitzsch, 
who  was  probably  the  most  learned  Oriental  scholar 
in  the  world,  and  Professor  in  the  renowned  Uni- 
versity of  Leipzig,  Germany.  He  was  also  an  au- 
thor of  much  celebrity  in  Old  Testament  exegesis, 
and  I  consider  his  admission  as  one  of  the  most 
valuable  made  to  our  faith  in  our  century.  I  put 
this  question  to  him :  "  What  is  the  literal  mean- 
ing of  the  verb  tabhalf'^  and  he  wrote  this  reply 
immediately  under  the  question :  "  It  signifies  to 
immerse,  the  same  as  haptizeinJ^ 

I  will  close  with  a  statement  in  Witsius'  Works, 
London  1785,  vol.  3,  p.  364.  He  says  of  the  Jew- 
ish baptisms :  "  The  entire  body  was  to  be  plunged 
at  once  :  for  if  but  the  tip  of  the  finger  was  undipt, 
and  such  a  person  was  accounted  to  remain  still  in 
his  uncleanness.'^ 


46  IMMERSION. 


CHAPTER  YI. 

THE  BAPTISM  OF  JOHN. 

rr^HIS  baptism  is  graphically  described  by  the 
-*-  Evangelist  Mark:  ^'John  did  baptize  in  the 
wilderness,  and  preach  the  baptism  of  repentance 
for  the  remission  of  sins.  And  there  went  out 
unto  him  all  the  land  of  Judea,  and  they  of  Jeru- 
salem, and  were  all  baptized  of  him  in  the  river 
of  Jordan,  confessing  their  sins."  (Comp.  Math. 
iii:  5,  6.) 

If  we  were  to  leave  out  of  the  question  the 
meaning  of  the  word  baptizo,  which  I  have  de- 
monstrated means  to  dip,  the  circumstances  of  this 
narrative  would  beyond  all  doubt  point  to  immer- 
sion. John  was  baptizing  "in  the  river  of  Jordan.^ ^ 
He  was  not  baptizing  at  the  river  but  in  the  river. 
If  the  act  John  was  performing  was  sprinkling  or 
pouring,  it  will  make  good  sense  to  substitute 
those  words  for  baptize.  Let  us  try  it:  "And 
were  all  sprinkled  of  him  in  the  river  Jordan." 
^^  Were  all  poured  of  him  in  the  river  Jordan." 
That  is  nonsense.  The  people  were  neither  poured 
nor  sprinkled  into  the  river.  Let  us  try  once 
more  :    "And  were  all  dipped  of  him  in  the  river 


THE    BAPTISM    OF    JOHN.  47 

Jordan.^'     That  reading  is  perfectly  correct,  and  is 
the  very  thing  the  Evangelist  was  saying. 

The  most  competent  authorities  fully  admit  that 
the  baptism  of  John  was  an  immersion  in  water. 
Hear  them : — 

Dr.  Isaac  Wise,  the  learned  Jewish  Rabbi  of 
Cincinnati,  in  answer  to  a  pamj^hlet  of  Mr.  Hea- 
ton,  says  in  the  American  Israelite :  "  Mr.  Heaton 
confounds  baptism  with  the  sprinkling  of  the  ashes 
of  the  red  heifer,  diluted  in  water,  when  the  per- 
son  or  thing   which  had    come   in   contact  with  a 

dead  body Any  child,  however,  can 

see  that  there  is  also  a  sanitary  clause  involved  in 
this  law.  There  is  no  passage  on  record  that  John 
the  Baptist  thought  of  this  case.  The  very  fact 
that  he  went  to  the  Jordan  suggests  that  the  case 
of  Naaman  with  his  leprosy,  and  the  command  of 
the  prophet  Elisha,  was  in  the  mind  of  the  Baptist ; 
and  Naaman  undoubtedly  submerged  his  body 
seven  times  in  the  Jordan.  If  Mr.  Heaton,  in- 
stead of  quibbling  on  words  and  consulting  diction- 
aries, would  have  inquired  after  facts  and  would 
have  looked  up  the  matter  in  the  Mishna,  and 
other  Jewish  authors,  he  would  have  discovered 
that  the  Jews  had  no  idea  of  sprinkling — the}' 
knew  the  bath  and  submersion.  Consequently 
John  the  Baptist   submerged   his  converts   in  the 


48  IMMERSION. 

Jordan We  know  exactly  what  John 

did  at  the  Jordan,  and  all  the  dictionaries  cannot 
change  the  fact." 

This  is  unprejudiced  testimony. 

The  scholarly  Meyer  says,  Com.  Math.  p.  77: 
^*  To  this,  however,  the  immersion  of  the  whole  of 
the  baptized  person,  as  the  metanoia,  was  to  purify 
the  whole  man,  corresponded  with  profound  sig- 
nificance, and  to  this  the  specially  Christian  view 
of  the  symbolical  immersion  and  emersion  after- 
wards connected  itself  by  an  ethical  necessity." 

Adam  Clarke,  the  Methodist  Commentator,  at 
the  end  of  his  dissertation  of  Mark^s  Gospel,  says : 
"The  baptism  of  John  was  by  plunging  the  body 
after  this  same  manner  as  the  washing  of  unclean 
persons  was." 

Dr.  Bennett  says,  and  his  book  is  an  authority 
in  the  Methodist  Church  and  has  the  endorsement 
of  Bishop  Hurst :  "  The  customary  mode  was 
used  by  the  apostles  in  the  baptism  of  the  first 
converts.  They  were  familiar  with  the  baptism  of 
John's  disciples  and  of  the  Jewish  proselytes. 
This  was  ordinarily  by  dipping  or  immersion. 
This  is  indicated  not  only  by  the  general  significa- 
tion of  the  words  used  in  describing  the  rite, 
but  the  earliest  testimony  of  the  documents  which 


THE   BAPTISM   OF   JOHN.  49 

have  been  preserved  gives  preference."  (Arch.  p. 
396.) 

Geikie,  an  Episcopalian,  in  his  popular  Life  of 
Christ,  p.  276,  says  :  "  It  was,  hence,  impossible 
to  see  a  convert  go  down  into  a  stream,  travel- 
worn,  and  soiled  with  dust,  and,  after  disappearing 
for  a  moment,  emerge  pure  and  fresh,  without  feel- 
ing that  the  symbol  suited  and  interpreted  a  strong 
craving   of  the  human  heart.     It  was   no   formal 

rite    with    John Bathing    in  Jordan 

had  been  a  sacred  symbol,  at  least,  since  the  days 
of  Naaman,  but  immersion  by  one  like  John,  with 
strict  and  humiliating  confession  of  sin,  sacred 
vows  of  amendment,  and  hope  of  forgiveness,  if 
they  proved  lasting,  and  all  of  this  preparation  for 
the  Messiah,  was  something  wholly  new  to  Israel." 

Dr.  Dollinger, the  great  Catholic  historian, says: 
"At  first  Christian  baptism  commonly  took  place 
in  the  Jordan ;  of  course,  as  the  Church  spread 
more  widely,  also  in  private  houses;  like  that  of 
St.  John,  it  was  by  immersion  of  the  whole  person, 
which  is  the  only  meaning  of  the  New  Testament 
word.  A  mere  pouring  or  sprinkling  was  never 
thought  of."  (The  First  Age  of  Christ,  and  of 
the  Church,  p.  318.) 

Archbishop  Kenrick,  Catholic,  says:  "As  to 
the  mode  in  which  John  baptized,  many  circum- 


50  IMMERSION. 

stances  favor  the  opinion  that  it  was  by  some  kind 
of  immersion."     (Bap.  p.  180.) 

The  statement  in  John  iii :  23,  is  to  the  point, — 
'^And  John  was  also  baptizing  at  JEnon  near  to 
Salim,  because  there  was  much  water  there  ;  and 
they  came,  and  were  baptized." 

The  reason  given  for  choosing  ^non  is  that 
there  was  sufficient  water  for  baptismal  purposes. 
He  was  baptizing  in  JEnon  because  there  was  much 
water  there.  It  is  objected  that  ])oUa  Tiudata^ 
much  water,  may  be  translated  "  many  waters." 
I  might  grant  the  "  many  streams  "  desired  and  yet 
there  is  sufficient  water  for  baptizing.  I  read  in 
Ps.  xciii :  4,  "  The  Lord  on  high  is  mightier  than 
many  waters,  yea  than  the  mighty  waves  of  the 
sea."  Ps.  Ixxvii :  19,  "Thy  way  is  in  the  sea,  and 
thy  paths  in  the  great  waters."  The  same  phrase 
is  applied  to  the  rivers  Tigris  and  Euphrates.  The 
translation  makes  no  difference  as  to  the  act  of 
baptism.  Stuart  says  any  small  stream  would  fur- 
nish water  for  immersion.     (On  Bap.  p.  94.) 

This  is  freely  admitted  by  scholars. 

Olshausen,  Com.  vol.  2,  p.  365,  says :  "  John 
was  also  baptizing  in  the  neighborhood,  because 
the  water  there,  being  deep,  afforded  convenience 
for  immersion." 

Lightfoot,   Presbyterian,  Works  vol.  2,  p.  121, 


THE   BAPTISM    OF    JOHN.  51 

says :  "  That  the  baptism  of  John  was  by  plunging 
the  body  seems  to  appear  from  those  things  related 
of  him,  namely,  that  he  baptized  in  Jordan,  that 
he  baptized  in  iEnon,  because  there  was  much 
water  there  ;  and  that  Christ  being  baptized  came 
up  out  of  the  water ;  to  which  that  seems  to  be 
parallel.  Acts  viii:38.'' 

Calvin  says  :  '^  From  these  words,  John  iii :  23,  it 
may  be  inferred  that  baptism  was  administered  by 
John  and  Christ,  by  plunging  the  whole  body 
under  water.  Here  we  perceive  how  baptism  was 
administered  among  the  ancients ;  for  they  im- 
mersed the  whole  body  in  water." 

Dr.  Doddridge  says,  Epis.  vol.  1,  p.  158:  "But 
nothing  can  be  more  evident  than  that  jjolla  hudata, 
many  waters,  signifies  a  large  quantity  of  water,  it 
being  sometimes  used  for  the  Euphrates." 

But  does  not  the  record  read.  Math,  iii:  11,  ^^I 
indeed  baptize  you  with  water,"  but  "  he  shall  bap- 
tize yon  Avith  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  with  fire"? 
Certainly,  but  you  must  remember  this  is  the  Epis- 
copalian translation  of  King  James.  The  original 
Greek  has,  they  shall  be  baptized  "  in  w^ater,"  "  in 
the  Holy  Ghost,"  and  "  in  fire."  For  my  part,  I 
would  rather  take  what  God  said  than  to  trust  any 
translation.  The  preposition  "with"  here,  how- 
ever, was  not  one  of  instrument.    It  represents  the 


52  IMMEKSIOX. 

element  into  which  the  persons  were  to  be  clipped. 
They  were  to  be  baptized  ^Svith  water,"  and  not 
*^with  milk";  'Svith  the  Holy  Spirit/'  and  not 
"  with  honey  "  ;  "  with  fire,"  and  not  "  with  wine." 
Luther's  translation  recognizes  this  distinction, 
and  translates  this  passage,  "  I  indeed  dip  you 
with  water."  Meyer  takes  this  position.  He  says, 
p.  81 :  ^^  It  is,  agreeably  to  the  connection  of  bap- 
tizOy  not  to  be  taken  in  an  instrumental,  but  as  in 
the  meaning  of  the  eleraent  in  which  baptism  takes 
place." 

The  literal  meaning  of  the  passage  is  in  water 
and  not  iviih  water.  It  is  so  translated  by  Dr. 
Bennett,  Arch.  p.  389  :  ^^So  that  while  the  baptism 
of  John  was  complete  in  water,  en  hudati,  the  bap- 
tism instituted  by  Christ  was  not  only  in  water, 
but  in  the  Holy  Spirit  and  in  fire,  p7ieu7)iatl  liagio 

Dr.  George  Campbell,  and  Robinson  in  his 
Greek  Lexicon,  translate  it :  "  In  the  Holy  Ghost 
and  in  fire."  Dr.  George  Campbell  comments  as 
follows  :  "  In  water,  in  the  Holy  Spirit,  vulgate 
in  aqua,  in  spiritu  sancto.  Thus  also,  the  Syriac, 
and  other  ancient  versions.  All  the  modern  trans- 
lations from  the  Greek  which  I  have  seen,  render 
the  words  as  our  common  version  does,  except 
LeClerc.     I  am  sorry  to  observe  that  the  popish 


THE    BAPTISM    OF    JOHN.  53 

translators  from  the  Vulgate  have  shown  greater 
veneration  for  the  style  of  that  version  than  the 
generality  of  Protestant  translators  have  shoMn  for 
that  of  the  original.  For  in  this  the  Latin  is  not 
more  explicit  than  the  Greek,  yet  so  inconsistent 
are  the  interpreters  last  mentioned,  that  none  of 
these  have  scrupled  to  render  en  to  Jordana,  in  tlie 
sixth  verse,  in  Jordan^  though  nothing  can  be 
plainer  than  that,  if  there  be  any  incongruity  in 
the  expression  in  water,  this  in  Jordan  must  be 
equally  incongruous.  But  they  liave  seen  that  the 
preposition  in  could  not  be  avoided  there,  without 
adopting  a  circumlocution,  and  saying,  xciih  the 
water  of  Jordan,  which  would  have  made  their 
deviation  from  the  text  too  glaring.  The  Avord 
baptizein,  both  in  sacred  authors  and  in  classical, 
signifies  to  dip,  to  plunge,  to  immerse,  and  was 
rendered  by  TertuUian,  the  oldest  of  the  Latin 
fathers,  tinge  re,  the  term  used  for  dyeing  cloth, 
Avhich  was  by  immersion.  It  is  always  construed 
suitable  to  this  meaning."  (Four  Gos.,  vol.  4,  p.  23.) 
Bishop  Henry  C.  Potter,  Episcopal  Bishop  of 
New  York,  says :  "  Now  what  was  the  drift  of  all 
of  this,  but  at  once  to  interpret  and  illustrate  the 
meaning  of  In's  own  baptizings.  The  outward  act 
— that  plunging  in  the  Jordan — meant  simply,  get 
your  bodies  clean,  and  so   it  stood   for   that  other 


54  IMMERSION. 

call  which  rings  through  all  of  John  the  Baptist's 
preaching,  ^^  make  your  lives,  so  far  as  you  can 
make  them,  white  and  clean.''  (Met.  PuL,  April, 
1877.) 

Prof.  Plumptre,  in  Ellicott's  Com.,  vol.  1,  p.  12, 
says :  ^^As  heard  and  understood  at  the  time,  the 
baptism  of  the  Holy  Ghost  would  imply  that  the 
souls  baptized  would  be  plunged,  as  it  were,  in 
that  creative  and  informing  Spirit  which  was  the 
source  of  hope  and  holiness  and  wisdom." 

And  in  the  parallel  passage.  Acts  i :  5,  vol.  1,  p.  2, 
Prof.  Plumptre  also  says;  ^^  Now  they  were  told 
that  their  spirits  were  to  be  as  fully  baptized,  i.  e., 
plunged  into  the  power  of  the  divine  Spirit,  as 
their  bodies  had  been  plunged  into  the  waters  of 
the  Jordan." 

Neander,  Life  of  Christ,  p.  53,  says :  "  He  it 
was  who  should  baptize  them  w^ith  the  Holy  Ghost 
and  with  fire ;  that  is  to  say,  that  as  his,  John's, 
followers  were  evidently  immersed  in  the  water,  so 
the  Messiah  would  immerse  the  souls  of  believers 
in  the  Holy  Ghost  imparted  by  himself;  so  that 
it  should  entirely  penetrate  their  being,  and  form 
within  them  a  principle  of  life." 

And  the  Greek  father  Cyril  of  Jerusalem,  who 
lived  upon  the  very  spot  where  the  baptism  of  the 
Holy  Spirit  occurred,  understood  it  as  an  immersion. 


THE   BAPTISM   OF   JOHN.  55 

He  remarks ;  "  For  the  Lord  saith,  ye  shall  be 
immersed 'in  the  Holy  Spirit  not  many  days  after 
this.  Not  impart  the  grace,  but  all-sufficing  the 
power.  For  as  he  who  sinks  down  into  the  waters 
and  is  immersed,  is  surrounded  on  all  sides  by  the 
waters,  so  also  they  were  completely  immersed  by 
the  Spirit.''     (Instruc.  VIII.) 


66  IMMERSION. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

THE  BAPTISM  OF  JESUS. 

ri^HE  baptism  of  Jesus  is  recorded  in  Marki:  9- 
-^  11  :  "And  it  came  to  pass  in  those  days,  that 
Jesus  came  from  Nazareth  of  Galilee,  and  was  bap- 
tized of  John  in  Jordan.  And  straightway  coming 
up  out  of  the  water,  he  saw  the  heavens  opened,  and 
the  spirit  like  a  dove  descending  upon  him ;  and 
there  came  a  voice  from  heaven,  saying,  Thou  art 
my  beloved  Son,  in  whom  I  am  well  pleased." 

This  passage  says  in  the  original  that  he  was 
baptized  into  the  Jordan,  and  you  can  not  pour  or 
sprinkle  a  man  into  a  river,  and  to  say  that  Jesus 
was  baptized  with  or  at  a  river  is  a  ])hi]ological 
absurdity.  There  is  not  a  man  with  ordinary  in- 
telligence, having  no  purpose  to  serve,  and  without 
prejudice,  who  could  understand  from  this  narra- 
tive any  thing  else  than  that  Jesus  was  immersed 
into  the  Jordan. 

So  plainly  does  this  scripture  teach  immersion, 
that  the  advocates  of  sprinkling  have  moved 
heaven  and  earth  to  turn  aside  this  testimony,  and 
have  sought  means  to  explain  that  it  has  no  bear- 
ing upon  our  duty. 


THE   BAPTISM    OF   JESUS.  57 

I  will  point  out  a  few  of  these  subterfuges : 

1.  ^*It  is  objected  that  the  baptism  of  John 
was  not  Christian  baptism."  Our  Pedobaptist 
brethren  borrow  this  objection  from  the  Catholics. 
Archbishop  Kenrick  says  :  "  We  are  not  author- 
ized by  any  expression  of  the  sacred  writers,  to 
consider  the  baptism  of  John  as  a  rite  of  divine 
institution."  (Bap.  p.  16.)  But  the  Scriptures  ex- 
pressly say,  that  "John  was  sent  from  God;"  and 
that  his  baptism  was  not  "  from  men,"  but  from 
*^  God."  Every  element  of  Christian  baptism  was 
present  in  the  act  required  by  John.  There  was 
"repentance,"  Mark  i:  4;  "faith,"  Acts  xix  :  4  ; 
"  confession,"  Mark  i :  5,  and  then  baptism.  All 
the  persons  of  the  Trinity  witnessed  the  baptism 
of  Jesus  and  took  part  in  it.  The  Father  spoke 
his  approval,  the  Holy  Spirit  came  as  a  dove  and 
sat  upon  him,  while  the  Son  was  baptized.  If 
Jesus  received  the  baptism  of  John  without  a 
question,  why  should  you  seek  to  throw  doubt 
upon  it? 

2.  "  It  was  to  initiate  Jesus  into  the  priest- 
hood." The  misfortune  of  this  theory  is  that  it  is 
not  found  in  the  Scriptures.  This  assertion  is  a 
pure  gratuity.  Jesus  Christ  never  was  a  Jewish 
priest,  nor  did  he  ever  lay  claim  to  any  such  office. 
He  was  not  of  the  priestly  tribe  of  Levi :  he  be- 


58  IMMERSION. 

longed  to  the  kingly  tribe  of  Judah.  As  a  Jew, 
it  would  have  been  criminal,  instead  of  praise- 
worthy, for  our  Lord  to  have  appropriated  to  him- 
self any  of  the  ceremonies  belonging  solely  to  the 
tribe  of  Levi.  This  charge  was  never  brought 
against  Jesus,  as  it  certainly  would  have  been,  had 
there  been  any  foundation  for  it  in  pretense  or 
fact.  Jesus  laid  no  claim  to  the  Jewish  priesthood. 
He  was  a  high-priest,  but  it  was  after  the  order  of 
Melchisedec  and  not  of  Aaron.  He  did  not  have 
"  to  be  initiated  into  the  priesthood  at  the  age  of 
thirty  years  ;  "  but  he  was  a  priest  "  forever  after 
the  order  of  Melchisedec ; ''  and  he  abideth  "  a 
priest  continually."  (Heb.  vii :  17.)  The  Scriptures 
are  absolutely  silent  on  the  statement  that  Jesus 
was  a  Jewish  priest. 

3.  But  it  is  objected  that  John's  baptism  was 
one  of  purification.  If  I  should  grant  that  prop- 
osition, baptism  could  still  be  a  dipping  in 
water.  I  ask  which  would  more  likely  represent 
purification,  a  few  drops  of  water  on  the  head,  or  a 
complete  baptism  in  wat^r?  But  what  will 
you  do  with  this  theory  in  the  baptism  of  Jesus  ? 
He  needed  no  purification.  He  was  without  sin, 
and  neither  was  guile  found  in  his  mouth.  He 
was  pure  and  holy  and  separate  from  sinners. 
This  will   not   bear    investigation  for   a    moment. 


THE  BAPTISM    OF  JESUS.  59 

Hear  what  the  learned  Neander  says :  "  The  idea 
that  Christ  was  baptized  with  a  view  of  purifica- 
tion is  absolutely  untenable,  no  matter  how  the 
notion  of  purification  may  be  modified."  (Life  of 
Christ,  p.  64.) 

The  best  way  to  do  is  to  take  this  passage  as  it 
reads.  Jesus  was  immersed  into  the  river  of  Jor- 
dan. So  certain  is  this  that  Pedobaptist  scholars 
have  freely  acknowledged  it.  I  shall  quote  only 
a  few. 

Last  year  Dr.  Maelaren,  of  England,  in  his 
exposition  of  the  ^^  Sunday  School  Lessons,"  in  the 
Sunday  School  Timers,  said  that  Jesus  was  im- 
mersed. At  once  a  number  of  gentlemen  wrote  a 
protest  to  Dr.  Trumbull,  editor  of  the  Times.  In 
an  editorial,  Aug.  6th,  1889,  he  replied:  "Most 
Christian  scholars  of  every  denomination  are 
agreed  in  finding  the  primitive  meaning  of  the 
word  baptize  to  be  ^to  dip,'  or  ^to  immerse.' 
The  sweep  of  scholarship  in  and  out  of  the  Baptist 
church  is  in  favor  of  immersion  as  a  principle 
meaning  of  the  word  baptize.  A  very  large  por- 
tion of  the  scholars  of  the  world  agree  with  Dr. 
Maclaren  that  immersion  was  the  mode  of  John's 
baptism." 

Dr.  Hibbard,  the  standard  Methodist  writer  on 
baptism,  says  :  "  Jesus  was  baptized     .     .     .    into 


60  IMMERSION. 

the  Jordan.  In  the  latter  case  we  have  no  doubt 
of  an  outward  baptism,  and  the  words  eis  ton  Jor- 
danan^  into  the  Jordan,  beyond  all  contradiction, 
affix  to  the  verb  baptize  its  literal  signification." 
(Bapt.  P.  2,  p.  132.) 

Bishop  Jeremy  Taylor,  Episcopalian,  says : 
"  Straightway  Jesus  went  up  out  of  the  water 
(saith  the  Gospel) ;  he  came  up,  therefore  he  went 
down.  Behold  an  immersion,  not  an  aspersion. 
And  the  ancient  churches,  followed  this  of  the 
Gospel,  did  not,  in  their  baptisms,  sprinkle  water 
with  their  hands,  but  immerged  the  catechumen  or 
infant All  which  are  a  perfect  con- 
viction, that  the  custom  of  the  ancient  churches 
was  not  sprinkling,  but  immersion,  in  j)ursnance 
of  the  meaning  of  the  word  in  the  commandment, 
and  the  example  of  our  blessed  Saviour."  (Works, 
vol.  14,  p.  62.) 

So  generally  is  it  understood  that  Jesus  was 
immersed  in  the  Jordan,  that  thousands  of  people 
are  immersed,  or  immerse  themselves,  at  the  reputed 
place  of  the  baptism  of  Jesus.  In  1890  Dr.  Tal- 
mage,  a  Presbyterian  preacher,  baptized  a  man  at 
this  place.  Dean  Stanley  describes  a  scene  that 
takes  place  every  year  in  the  Jordan.  '^  Of  all  the 
practices,"  says  Stanley,  "superstitions,  if  we 
choose  so  to  call  them,  of   the  Oriental  churches 


THE    BAPTISM    OF    JESUS.  61 

in  Palestine,  none  is  more  innocent  or  natural  than 
the  ceremony  repeated  year  by  year  at  the  Greek 
Easter — the  bathing  of  the  pilgrims  in  the  Jordan. 
It  has  often  been  witnessed  by  European  travel- 
lers. I  venture  to  describe  it  from  my  own  recol- 
lections, for  the  sake  of  the  general  illustration 
which  it  furnishes  of  the  present  forms  of  Oriental 
Christianity,  and  also  as  presenting  the  nearest 
likeness  that  can  now  be  seen  in  the  same  general 
scenery  to  the  multitudinous  baptisms  of  John. 
Once  a  year — on  the  Monday  in  Passion-week— 
the  desolation  of  the  plain  of  Jericho  is  broken  by 
the  descent  from  the  Judean  hills  of  five,  six,  or 
eight  thousand  pilgrims.  .  .  .  They  dismount, 
and  set  to  work  to  perform  their  bath ;  most  on 
the  open  space,  some  further  up  amongst  the 
thickets ;  some  plunging  in  naked,  most,  however, 
with  white  dresses,  which  they  bring  with  them, 
and  which,  having  been  so  used,  are  kept  for  their 
winding  sheets.  Most  of  the  bathers  keep  within 
the  shelter  of  the  bank,  where  the  water  is  about 
four  feet  deep,  though  with  a  bottom  of  very  deep 
mud.  ...  A  primitive  domestic  character 
pervades  in  a  singular  form  the  whole  transaction. 
The  families  which  have  come  on  their  single  mule 
or  camel,  now  bathe  together,  with  the  utmost 
gravity ;  the  father  receiving  from  the  mother  the 


62  IMMERSION. 

infant,  which  has  been  brought  to  receive  the  one 
immersion  which  will  suffice  for  the  rest  of  his 
life,  and  thus,  by  a  curious  economy  of  resources, 
save  it  from  the  expense  and  danger  of  a  future 
pilgrimage  in  after  years.  In  about  two  hours  the 
shores  are  cleared;  with  the  same  quiet  they 
remount  their  camels  and  horses  ;  and  before  the 
noonday  heat  has  set  in,  are  again  encamped  on 
the  upper  plain  of  Jericho.''  (Sinai  and  Pal.  p. 
386.) 

There  remains  but  one  question.  If,  as  I  have 
shown,  Jesus  was  immersed,  is  it  not  your  duty  to 
be  baptized  also ;  and  if  Jesus  went  down  into  the 
water,  is  it  not  your  duty  to  do  the  same?  You 
have  no  right  to  set  up  your  opinion  against  the 
example  of  the  Son  of  God.  "  Where  he  leads  I 
will  follow/'  is  an  excellent  rule  to  obey. 


THE   BAPTISM    IN    MARK.  63 

CHAPTER  YIII. 

THE  BAPTISM  MENTIONED  IN  MARK  vii:  1-4. 

THIS  scripture  reads:     "There  came  together 
unto  him  the   Pharisees,  and  certain  of  the 
scribes,  which  came  from  Jerusalem.     And  when 
they    ^aw   some   of   the   disciples   eat  bread   with 
defiled,  that    is    to    say,    with    unwashed    hands, 
they  found  fault.     For  the  Pharisees,  and  all  of 
the   Jews,  except    they  wash  their  hands  oft,   eat 
not,   holding    the   tradition   of   the    elders.     And 
when   they   come    from   the   market,  except  they 
wash,  they  eat  not.     And  many  other  things  there 
be,  which  they  have  received  to  hold,  as  the  wash- 
ing of  cups,  and  pots,  brazen  vessels,  and  of  tables." 
There  are  three  things  here  that  demand  notice  : 
1.    The  Pharisees  were  accustomed  to  wash  their 
hands   {niptontai)   before   they  eat.     They   would 
take  a  basin  of  water,  plunge   their  hands  into  it 
and  rub  them  clean.     Eobinson  says  in  his  Greek 
lexicon  of  this  practice,    "  unless  they  wash  their 
hands  (rubbing  them)  with  the  fist,  i.  e.,  not  merely 
dipping  the  fingers  or  hands  in  water  as  a  sign  of 
ablution,  but  rubbing  the  hands  together  as  a  ball 
or  fist,  in  the  usual  Oriental  manner  when  water  is 


64  IMMERSION. 

poured  over  them  ( 2  K.,  iii:  1),  see  in  nipto,  hence 
ad  sensum,  sedulously,  diligently."  Perhaps  Kitto 
more  accurately  describes  the  act  (Cy.  vol.  1, 
p.  18)  :  "The  hands  were  plunged  in  water.  It 
was  this  last,  namely  the  ceremonial  ablution,  which 
the  Pharisees  judged  to  be  necessary.  When  there- 
fore some  of  that  sect  remarked  that  our  Lord's 
diciples  ate  '  with  unwashed  hands, '  it  is  not  to  be 
understood  literally,  that  they  did  not  at  all  wash 
their  hands,  but  that  they  did  not  plunge  them 
ceremonially  according  to  their  own  practice.^' 

This  word,  however,  never  refers  to  the  ordi- 
nance of  baptism. 

2.  When  the  Pharisees  came  from  the  market 
they  baptized  themselves  before  they  ate.  Loud  and 
deep  has  been  the  denial  that  baptizo  here  means 
to  dip.  But  it  cannot  be  asserted  that  such  an 
immersion  "is  either  an  impossible  or  an  improb- 
able one ;  for  surely  the  Jews  could  have  immersed 
themselves  after  coming  from  the  market ;  and 
that  they  did  practice  ablution  by  immersion,  in 
many  cases  besides  those  precribed  by  the  law  of 
Moses,  is  matter  of  historical  proof.  Besides,  the 
consistency  and  harni()ny  of  the  passage  requires 
that  baptizo  have  a  more  extensive  meaning  than 
nipto.  To  read  it,  "  The  Pharisees  and  all  the  Jews, 
except  they  wnsh  their  hands,  eat  not;  and  when 


THE   BAPTISM    IN    MARK.  65 

they  come  from  the  market,  except  they  wash  they 
eat  not/^  makes  an  unmeaning  tautology.  It  is 
stated  in  the  first  place,  that  they  on  all  occasions 
wash  their  hands  previous  to  eating;  what,  then, 
does  it  add  to  the  sense,  to  say,  that  when  they 
come  from  the  market,  they  do  not  eat  without  wash- 
ing? The  evangelist  evidently  intends  to  be  un- 
derstood, that  all  the  Jews,  on  all  occasions,  wash 
their  hands  before  eating ;  and  that  when  they 
have  been  to  the  forum,  or  place  of  public  con- 
course, they  practice  a  more  extensive  purification. 
Baptizo,  then,  may  not  only  have  its  usual  signifi- 
cation here,  but  that  meaning  is  absolutely  re- 
quired by  the  scope  and  harmony  of  the  passage." 

It  is  also  a  fact  that  rantlzontai,  sprinkling,  is  in 
the  text  of  many  Greek  editions  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment. Westcott  and  Hort  has  that  reading,  and 
the  Revised  version  adds,  ^'  Some  ancient  author- 
ities read  sprinkle  themselves."  Such  a  reading, 
of  course,  would  relieve  immersionists  of  any  sup- 
posed difficulty  in  regard  to  this  text. 

I  am,  however,  content  to  let  the  common  read- 
ing remain.  Thayer,  Stephanus,  and  the  Greek 
lexicons  generally  say  that  the  Pharisees  immersed 
or  bathed  themselves ;  while  Dr.  George  Campbell, 
Noyes,  and  other  scholars  render  the  word  by  im- 
mersion or  dip.      I  shall  let  the  scholars  testify. 


66  IMMERSION. 

Dr.  H.  Holtzmann,  of  Strasburg  University,  writes 
me,  April  4th,  1890,  that  ^^baptizo  means  to  dip, 
and  that  washing  for  ablution  could  possibly  be 
the  meaning  in  Mark  vii :  1-4;  but  even  there  it 
is  wrong,  since  the  passage  refers  to  ablution  by 
dipping  under  before  meal -time.  Moreover,  ranti- 
zontai,  and  not  haptizontaiy  is  the  proper  reading." 

Dr.  George  Campbell,  Presbyterian,  says:  "The 
first  is  niptontaij  properly  translated  to  wash ;  the 
second  is  baptizontai^  which  limits  its  meaning  to  a 
particular  kind  of  washing ;  for  baptizo  means  to 
plunge,  to  dip."     (Four  Gos.  vol.  4,  p.  205.) 

Olshausen,  Lutheran,  says :  "  The  term  baptizes- 
thai  is  difterent  from  niptesthai ;  the  former  is  the 
dipping  and  rinsing,  or  cleansing  of  food  that  has 
been  purchased,  to  free  it  from  impurities  of  any 
kind;  niptesthai  includes  also  the  act  of  rubbing 
oflP."     (Com.  vol.  1,  p.  527.) 

Prof.  Plumptre,  in  EUicott's  Com.  vol.  1,  p.  207, 
says :  "  The  Greek  verb  differs  from  that  of  the 
previous  verse,  and  implies  the  washing  or  immer- 
sion (the  verb  is  that  from  which  our  word  '  bap- 
tize' comes  to  us)  of  the  whole  body,  as  the  former 
does  of  part.  The  idea  on  which  the  practice  rested 
was  not  one  of  cleanliness  or  health,  but  of  arro- 
gant exclusiveness,  fastening  on  the  thought  of  cer- 
emonial purity.      They  might  have   come,  in  the 


THE   BAPTISM    IN    MARK.  67 

crowd  of  the  market,  into  passing  contact  with  a 
Gentile,  and  his  touch  was  as  defiling  as  a  corpse. 
So,  too,  the  washing  of  cups  and  the  like  was  be- 
cause they  might  have  been  touched  by  a  heathen, 
and  therefore  impure  lips." 

The  great  exegete,  Meyer,  says  :  '*In  this  case 
ean  ma  haptisontai  is  not  to  be  understood  of  wash- 
ing the  hands,  but  of  immersion,  which  the  v/ord  in 
classic  Greek  and  in  the  New  Testament  denotes ; 
i.  e.  in  this  case,  according  to  the  context,  to  take 
a  bath.  So,  also,  Lu.  ix  :  38;  Comp.  Eccl.  xxx: 
25 ;  Judith  xii :  7.  Having  come  from  market, 
where  they  may  have  contracted  pollution  through 
contact  with  the  crowd,  they  eat  not  without  hav- 
ing first  bathed.  The  statement  proceeds  by  way 
of  climax :  Before  eating  they  observe  the  wash- 
ing of  hands  always,  but  the  bathing  when  they 
come  from  market  and  wish  to  eat."  (Com.  Mark 
vii :  4.) 

3.  The  immersion  of  pots,  brazen  vessels  and 
tables.  The  main  objection  offered  to  this  is  that 
it  is  not  probable  that  "tables"  were  immersed. 
Such  authorities  as  Tischendorf,  and  Westcott  and 
Hort,  entirely  omit  tables  from  the  text ;  but  to  be 
absolutely  fair,  granting  that  it  is  a  genuine  read- 
ing, we  are  at  no  loss.  It  certainly  is  not  impos- 
sible to  immerse  an  Oriental  table.     Indeed  noth- 


()S  IMMERSIOX. 

ing  would  be  easier.  "  The  table  in  the  East/'  says 
Jahn,  "  is  a  piece  of  round  leather,  spread  upon  the 
floor,  upon  which  is  placed  a  sort  of  stool.  This 
supports  nothing  but  a  platter.'^ 

But  it  is  objected  that  this  does  not  mean  table, 
but  a  "couch  or  bed."  But  that  does  not  help  the 
case  of  our  opponents.  The  Eastern  bed  is  quite 
as  movable  as  the  table.  "The  manner  of  sleeping 
in  warm  Eastern  climates,"  says  Kitto,  "  is  neces- 
sarily very  diiFerent  from  that  which  is  followed  in 
our  colder  regions.  The  present  usages  appear  to 
be  the  same  as  those  of  the  ancient  Jews,  and  suf- 
ficiently explain  the  passages  of  Scripture  which 
bear  on  that  subject.  Beds  of  feathers  are  alto- 
gether unknown,  and  the  Orientals  generally  lie 
exceedingly  hard.  Poor  people  have  no  certain 
home,  and  when  on  a  journey,  or  employed  at  a 
distance  from  their  dwelling,  sleep  on  mats  or 
wrapped  in  their  outer  garment,  which,  from  its 
importance  in  this  respect,  was  forbidden  to  be  re- 
tained in  pledge  over  night.  Under  peculiar  cir- 
cumstances a  stone  covered  with  some  folded  cloth 
or  piece  of  dress  is  often  used  for  a  pillow.  The 
more  wealthy  classes  sleep  on  mattresses  stuffed 
with  wool  or  cotton,  which  often  are  no  other  than 
a  quilt  thickly  padded,  and  are  used  either  singly, 


THE    BAPTISM    IN    MARK.  G9 

or  one  or  more  placed  upon  each  other."     (Cy.  vol. 
l,p.  311.) 

The  law  of  Moses  positively  required  many  things 
to  be  put  in  water.  If  a  dead  thing  fall  upon  a  per- 
son or  thing,  it  must  be  put  into  water.  (Lev.  xi : 
32.)  And  other  things  w^ere  to  go  through  **  the 
water."  (Num.  xxxi :  23.)  Those  laws  that  were 
already  stringent  were  greatly  added  to  by  the 
Pharisees.  Maimonides,  a  Jewish  commentator, 
states  that  it  was  a  traditional  custom  of  the  Jews 
to  immerse  all  vessels  for  eating,  drinking,  and 
cooking,  whether  had  of  a  Gentile  or  an  Israelite. 
*^  Vessels,"  he  says,  "  bought  of  Gentiles  for  the 
use  of  a  feast,  whether  molten  or  glass  vessels,  they 
immerse  in  the  waters  of  the  laver,  and  after  that 
they  may  eat  and  drink  in  them ;  and  such  as  they 
used  for  cold  things,  as  cups,  pots,  and  jugs,  they 
washed  them  and  immersed  them,  and  they  are 
free  for  use ;  and  such  as  they  use  for  hot  things, 
as  cauldrons  and  kettles,  or  brazen  vessels,  they 
heat  them  with  hot  water,  and  scour  them  and 
immerse  them,  and  they  are  fit  to  be  used;  and 
things  which  they  use  at  the  fire,  as  spits  and  grid- 
irons, they  heat  them  in  the  fire,  and  immerse 
them,  and  they  may  be  lawfully  made  use  of  This 
is  the  immersion  with  which  they  immerse  vessels 
for  a  feast,  bought  of  Gentiles."    (Maacolot.  c.  17, 


70  IMMERSION. 

sec.  3,  5,  6.)  Again  the  same  author  says :  "  Ves- 
sels, they  say,  that  are  furnished  in  purity,  that  is, 
by  Jews,  even  though  the  disciple  of  a  wise  man 
makes  them,  care  is  to  be  taken  about  them ;  lo ! 
these  ought  to  be  immersed."  "A  bed  that  is 
wholly  defiled  if  one  immerses  it  part  by  part." 
(Hilch.  Abot.  Hatum.  c.  12,  sec.  6;  Hilch.  Mik- 
vaot,  c.  1,  sec.  2.) 

There  is  nothing  in  this  passage  that  will  make 
an  immersionist  change  his  opinion. 


BAPTISM   OF  THE   THREE   THOUSAND.  71 


CHAPTER  IX. 

THE  BAPTISM  OF  THE  THREE  THOUSAND. 

npN  the  second  chapter  of  the  Acts  of  the  Apos- 
tles, it  is  said  that  after  Peter's  sermon, "  the  same 
day  there  were  added  about  three  thousand  souls  " 
to  the  disciples.  This  statement  has  been  regarded 
by  Pedobaptists  in  general  as  a  very  serious  objec- 
tion to  the  act  of  baptism  by  immersion.  Indeed 
it  is  their  strong  fort ;  it  is  the  last  rallying  place. 
To  me  it  is  a  very  weak  and  childish  argument. 
As  it  appears  to  have  such  great  force,  I  shall 
notice  it  at  length. 

Take,  for  example,  the  standard  Methodist 
writer,  Dr.  T.  O.  Summers.  In  his  Treatise,  p.  86, 
under  his  "  proofs  of  affusion,"  he  says  :  "  It  was 
impossible  for  the  twelve  apostles  to  immerse  such 
a  multitude  in  some  six  or  eight  hours."  If  Dr. 
Summers  had  been  as  good  in  arithmetic  as  he  was 
in  surmising  "  proofs  for  affusion,"  this  assertion 
would  have  never  been  made.  You  will  notice 
that  according  to  this  statement  the  apostles  would 
have  baptized  less  than  thirty-one  persons  each  in 
an  hour,  and  nothing  would  be  easier  for  a  Bap- 
tist preacher  than  that.     In  this  brief  sentence  there 


72  IMMERSION. 

are  some  very  violent  suppositions.      I  shall  point 
them  out  separately. 

1.  He  presumes  that  the  entire  three  thousand 
were  baptized  in  one  day.  The  Scripture  only  says 
they  "were  added. ^*  There  is  no  record  that  they 
were  all  baptized  upon  one  day ;  but  so  far  as  the 
Bible  states,  they  may  have  been  baptized  upon 
the  following  days.  You  say  that  this  is  a  Baptist 
dodge.  Not  a  bit  of  it.  This  position  is  endorsed 
by  the  strongest  scholars.  I  have  before  me  the 
declaration  of  Dr.  Dollinger,  who  was  the  greatest 
Catholic  writer  of  this  century.  He  was  the  Pro- 
fessor of  Church  History  in  the  University  of 
Bonn,  and  recently  passed  to  rest  full  of  honors. 
He  is  surely  a  disinterested  witness.  He  says  in 
his  History  of  the  Church,  vol.  1,  p.  319:  "It  is 
not  said  that  the  three  thousand  converts  of  Pen- 
tecost were  all  baptized  the  same  day,  but  only 
"on  that  day  were  added  three  thousand  souls" 
(Acts  ii:  41);  L  e.  their  conversion  and  belief 
took  place  on  that  day ;  they  were  baptized  on  the 
following  days,  of  course,  gradually,  and  accord- 
ingly the  fact  of  their  baptism  is  mentioned  with- 
out any  time  being  assigned.^* 

Prof.  C.  W.  Bennett,  D.D.,  says:  "No  evidence, 
however,  is  furnished  by  the  record  that  Peter  him- 
self baptized  three  thousand  believers  on  the  day 


BAPTISM    OF   THE    THREE   THOUSAND.  73 

of  Pentecost.  This  may  have  been  done  by  differ- 
ent apostles  at  different  places,  by  different  modes, 
during  the  entire  day,  or  subsequent  days." 
(Arch.  p.  396.) 

2.  It  is  a  common  matter  of  history  that  as 
many  as  three  thousand  persons  have  often  been 
baptized  in  one  day.  I  shall  mention  time,  place, 
and  give  the  authority  upon  which  I  make  this 
declaration. 

The  first  instance  is  that  of  Chrysostom,  baptiz- 
ing three  thousand  in  Constautinople,  on  the  16th 
of  April,  A.  D.  404.  Perthes,  in  his  Life  of  St. 
Chrysostom,  p.  185,  says:  '^  On  Easter  eve,  the 
i6th  of  April,  the  Church  of  Chrysostom  and  the 
friendly  clergy  met  together,  as  was  the  custom,  to 
spend  the  night  in  vigils  and  to  greet  the  rays  of 
the  Easter  morning.  With  them  were  assembled 
three  thousand  young  Christians  who  were  to 
receive  baptism."  Cave,  in  his  I^ives  of  the 
Fathers,  London  1716,  p.  Q()'i,  gives  an  account 
of  the  baptism  of  this  three  thousand,  and  then 
relates  a  most  horrid  story  of  how  the  Church  was 
desecrated  by  the  soldiers  and  the  entire  city  scat- 
tered. Chrysostom  himself  tells  us  how  the  act  of 
baptism  was  performed.  "  For  we  sink  our  heads 
in  the  water,"  says  he,  "  as  if  in  some  grave,  the 
old  man  is  buried;    and  the  whole  man,   having 


74  IMMERSION. 

sunk  entirely  down,  is  concealed.  Then,  we 
emerge  him,  the  new  man  rises  again.  For  as 
it  is  easy  for  us  to  be  immersed  and  to  emerge,  so 
it  is  easy  for  God  to  bury  the  old  man  and  to  bring 
to  light  the  new.  This  is  done  three  times." 
(Patrol.  Lat.  Minge,  vol.  59,  p.  151.)  If  Chrysos- 
tom  could  immerse  three  thousand  converts  in  one 
night  when  the  soldiers  threatened  his  life  and 
drove  him  from  his  church,  it  would  seem  an  easy 
thing  for  Peter  to  immerse  a  like  number  when  he 
had  favor  with  all  the  people,  as  he  did  have  on 
the  day  of  Pentecost. 

The  second  instance  is  that  of  St.  Patrick,  of 
Ireland.  During  his  life  he  is  said  to  have 
immersed  one  hundred  and  twenty  thousand  peo- 
ple. Dr.  Todd,  an  Episcopalian,  Professor  of 
Hebrew  in  Trinity  College,  Dublin,  and  a  ripe 
Irish  scholar,  says  in  his  life  of  Patrick,  p.  442: 
"Patrick  entered  into  the  king's  palace,  and  he 
said  to  flercus,  (after  some  conversation)  Wilt 
thou  receive  the  baptism  of  the  Lord,  which  I 
have  with  me?  He  answered,  I  will  receive 
it;  and  they  came  to  the  fountain  Loigles,  and 
when  he  had  opened  his  book  and  had  baptized 
the  man  Hercus,  he  heard  men  behind  his  back 
mocking  him  one  to  another  about  the  matter,  for 
they  knew  not  what  he  had  done.     And  he  bap- 


BAPTISM    OF   THE   THREE   THOUSAND.  75 

tized  many  thousand  on  that  day."  On  p.  449, 
Dr.  Todd  says :  "  He  penetrated  the  hearts  of  all 
and  led  them  to  embrace  cordially  the  Christian 
faith  and  doctrine.  The  seven  sons  of  Amal- 
gaidh,  with  the  king  himself  and  twelve  thousand 
men  were  baptized.  They  were  baptized  in  a 
well  (fountain)  called  Tobur-en-adare.'*  Kev.  J. 
O'P^arrell,  in  his  popular  Life  of  St.  Patrick,  p. 
157,  says:  "After  descending  from  the  mountain, 
invigorated  for  the  sacred  duties  of  the  ministry, 
St.  Patrick  came  to  the  district  of  Corcothemne — 
not  far  distant,  it  would  seem — and  to  the  fountain 
of  Sinn,  where  he  baptized  many  thousands."  In 
these  lives  of  St.  Patrick  there  are  repeated  men- 
tion of  fountain  baptisms  which  of  necessity  were 
by  immersion.  Indeed,  so  late  as  the  twelfth 
century,  Gilbert,  Bishop  of  Limerick,  in  Ireland, 
in  his  little  book,  The  Constitution  of  the  Church, 
says  of  the  priest:  "It  is  his  duty  to  administer 
baptism,  to  dip  believers  who  have  been  exorcised 
and  who  have  confessed  the  Holy  Trinity,  with 
three  immersions  in  the  sacred  font."  (Patrol. 
Lat.  vol.  159,  p.  1000.)  Here  are  twelve  thousand 
men  immersed  in  one  day,  and  several  thousands 
on  other  days. 

The  third    instance   which  I  present  is   that  of 
Qovis,   king    of  France.      He    was   baptized    in 


76  IMMERSION. 

Rheims  by  Remingius,  on  Christmas  day,  A.  D.  496. 
Thanks  to  that  magnificent  collection  of  the  Chris- 
tian Fathers — Patrologia  Latince — I  have  all  the 
original  documents  before  me.  Hincmar,  the  suc- 
cessor of  Remingius,  says,  that  not  only  was  the 
king  baptized,  but  "from  his  army  three  thousand 
men  were  baptized,  without  counting  women  and 
children.'^  (Patrol.  Lat.  vol.  125,  pp.  1159,  1162.) 
Gregory  of  Tours,  who  wrote  a  valuable  history  of 
France,  in  574,  says,  they  were  baptized  "  in  a  fresh 
fountain,'^  and  gives  the  details  of  the  immersion. 
Avitus,  Bishop  of  Vienna,  was  so  pleased  that  he 
wrote  the  king  a  letter  in  which  he  says:  "That 
it  might  appear  in  due  order  that  you  were  born 
again  out  of  the  water  for  salvation  on  that  day  on 
which  the  world  received  the  Lord  of  Heaven, 
born  for  its  redemption.'^  (Patrol.  Lat.,  vol.  71, 
p.  1154.)  Alcuin  also  says  of  his  baptism:  "He 
(Remingius)  led  the  eager  king  to  the  fountain  of 
life,  and  when  he  came  he  washed  him  in  the 
fountain  of  eternal  salvation.  So  the  king  was 
baptized  with  his  nobles  and  people,  who  rejoiced 
to  receive  the  sacrament  of  the  healing  bath,  divine 
grace  having  been  previously  given  them."  (Patrol. 
Lat.,  vol.  101,  p.  670.)  If  there  can  be  any  sort 
of  doubt  as  to  what  Alcuin  meant  by  washing  him 
in  a  fountain,  he  says  elsewhere  that  baptism  was 


BAPTISM    OF    THE    THREE  THOUSAND.  77 

by  ''trine  immersion."  (Patrol.  Lat.,  vol.  100,  p. 
291.)  The  testimony  of  Hincmar  will  set  tlie  mat- 
ter at  rest.  He  says :  ''After  confessing  the  ortho- 
dox faith  in  answer  to  questions  put  by  the  holy 
pontiff,  according  to  ecclesiastical  custom  he  was 
baptized  by  trine  immersion  in  the  name  of  the 
holy  and  undivided  Trinity,  Father,  Son,  and  Holy 
Spirit."  (Patrol.  Lat.,  vol.  125,  p.  1162.)  This 
immersion  can  not  be  called  in  question. 

The   fourth   instance  I   present   is  that  of  Au- 
gustine.    He  baptized  10,000  men,  not  counting 
women  and  children,   in  the  Swale,  in    one  day. 
In    Fabyan's   Chronicles,    London   1811,  p.  96,  I 
read  :  "  He  had  in  one  day  christened  ten  thousands 
of  Saxons  or  Angles   in  the  west  river,  which   is 
called  Swale,  beside  York."    Henry,  in  his  History 
of  England,  confirms   this  statement.    (Vol.  3.,  p. 
192.)     I  have  before  me  a  letter  of  Pope  Gregory 
to  Eulogius,    Patriarch   of  Alexandria,  informing 
him  of  this  great  victory.     "  More  than  ten  thou- 
sand English,"  says  he,  ^Hhey  tell  us,  were  baptized 
by  the  same  brother,  our  fellow  bishop,  which  I 
communicate  to  you  to  announce  to  the  people  of 
Alexandria,  and  that  you   may  do   something  in 
prayer  for  the  dwellers  at  the  ends  of  the  earth." 
(Patrol.  Lat.,  vol.  77,  p.  951.)     Gregory  evidently 
understood  this  to  mean  an  immersion,  for  he  said : 


78  IMMERSION. 

"We  baptize  by  trine  immersion.'*  (Patrol.  Lat., 
vol.  77,  p.  498.  Gocelyn,  in  his  Life  of  Augustine, 
has  this  to  say  :  ^^  He  secured  on  all  sides  large 
numbers  for  Christ,  so  that  on  the  birth-day  of  the 
Lord,  celebrated  by  the  melodious  anthems  of  all 
heaven,  more  than  ten  thousand  of  the  English 
were  born  again  in  the  laver  of  holy  baptism,  with 
an  infinite  number  of  women  and  children,  in 
a  river  which  the  English  call  Sirarios,  the 
Swale,  as  if  at  one  birth  of  the  church  from  the 
womb.  These  persons,  at  the  command  of  the 
divine  teacher,  as  if  he  were  an  angel  from  heaven, 
calling  upon  them,  all  entered  the  dangerous 
depths  of  the  river,  two  and  two  together,  as  if  it 
had  been  a  solid  plain  ;  and  in  true  faith,  confess- 
ing the  exalted  Trinity,  they  were  baptized  one  by 
the  other  in  turns,  the  apostolic  leader  blessing  the 
water.  ...  So  great  a  prodigy  from  heaven 
born  out  of  the  deep  whirlpool.'*  (Patrol.  Lat., 
vol.  80,  p.  79.)  Here  are  more  than  three  times 
the  number  of  Pentecost,  not  counting  women  and 
children. 

I  would  also  call  attention  to  the  ba])tism  of 
Paulinus  of  ten  thousand  English  in  the  river 
Swale.  I  quote  from  the  learned  Camden,  in  his 
Britannia,  London  1806,  vol.  3,  p.  257,  the  Swale 
''was  accounted  sacred  by  the  ancient  Saxons,  above 


BAPTISM    OF   THE    THREE  THOUSAND.  79 

the    ten    thousand    persons,    besides    women    and 

children,  having  received  baptism  in  it,  in  one  day 

from  Paulinas,  Archbishop  of  York,  on  the  first 

conversion  of  the  Saxons  to  Christianity/' 

If  there  still   lingers  a  doubt  as   to   these  river 

baptisms  of  Augustine  and  Paulinus,  I  would  refer 

you  to  the  Roman  Catholic  historian  of  the  early 

English  Church,  John  Lingard,  D.D.,  vol.  1,  p.  291 : 

'^  The  regular  manner   of  administering    baptism 

was  by  immersion." 

The  sixth  instance  took  place  in  Germany.    St. 
ft 
Boniface  is  said  to  have  immersed  100,000  converts 

during  his  life.  Othelon,  in  his  Life  of  Boniface, 
gives  an  account  of  a  large  number  who  were  bap- 
tized at  one  time  by  him.  ^^  Then  also  he  entered," 
says  he,  "other  parts  of  Germany  that  he  might 
preach.  He  went  to  the  Hessians  located  on  th^' 
confines  of  the  Saxons,  whom  in  like  manner,  he 
converted  in  large  numbers  from  paganism,  and  he 
washed  many  thousands  of  men  in  the  sacrament 
of  baptism."  (St.  Boniface  Mogunt  Arch,  vita  c. 
12  srpt.,  Eccl.  viii.  ssec.  Migne.)  Pope  Zacharias 
in  a  letter  to  Boniface  fully  explains  what  is  meant 
by  this  "  washing.*'  "  Whosoever  has  been  washed," 
says  the  Pope,  "without  the  invocation  of  the 
Trinity,  has  not  the  sacrament  of  regeneration  (bap- 
tism), as  it   is   assuredly  true  that  if  any  one  has 


80  IMMERSION. 

been  immersed  in  the  baptismal  fountain  without 
the  invocation  of  the  Trinity,  he  has  not  been  made 
perfect  until  he  shall  have  been  baptized  in  the 
name  of  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the 
Holy  Spirit.  .  .  .  Whosoever  is  immersed,  the 
Trinity  being  invoked  in  Gospel  language  after 
the  rule  laid  down  by  the  Lord,  in  the  name  of 
the  Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost, 
has  that  sacrament  Avithout  doubt.  .  .  .  But 
about  those  who  immerse  in  the  fountain  of  bap- 
tism without  the  invocation  of  the  Trinity,  it  is 
known  to  thy  fraternity  that  the  series  of  sacred 
rules  contain  something  which  we  advise  you  to 
hold  tenaciously.''  (Zach.  Pop.,  pp.  943,  994, 
Migne.) 

The  seventh  instance  is  found  in  Pomerania. 
Bishop  Otto,  1124,  preached  on  a  missionary  tour 
in  thaf  country.  An  account  of  this  is  given  in 
Neander's  Church  History,  vol.  4,  p.  8.  "Seven 
days,"  says  the  historian,  ^Svere  spent  by  the  bishop 
in  giving  instruction ;  three  days  were  appointed 
for  spiritual  and  bodily  preparation  to  receive  the 
ordinance  of  baptism.  They  held  a  fast  and  bathed 
themselves,  that  they  might  with  cleanliness  and 
decency  submit  to  the  holy  transaction.  Large 
vessels  filled  with  water  were  sunk  into  the  ground 
and  surrounded  Avith  curtains.     Behind  these  bap- 


BAPTISM   OF   THE   THREE   THOUSAND.  81 

tism  was  administered,  in  the  form  customary  at 
that  period,  by  immersion.  During  the  twenty 
days  residence  in  that  town,  some  thousands  were 
baptized ;  and  the  persons  baptized  were  instructed 
on  the  matters  contained  in  the  confession  of  faith 
and  respecting  the  most  important  acts  of  wor- 
ship.^^ 

The  eighth  example  is  the  introduction  of  Christi- 
anity into  Russia.  The  Russian  ruler,  Vladimir, 
accepted  Christ,  and  after  his  baptism  he  com- 
manded all  the  people  of  Kieff  to  be  baptized. 
Accordingly  on  a  set  day  thousands  of  the  people 
of  this  city  were  immersed  in  the  river.  Dean 
Stanley  gives  the  following  account  of  this  trans- 
action :  Vladimir  "  was  baptized  accordingly  at 
Cherson,  and  then  issued  orders  for  a  great  baptism 
of  his  people  at  Kieff.  .  .  .  The  whole  people 
of  Kieff  were  immersed  in  the  same  river,  some 
sitting  on  the  banks,  some  plunged  in,  others 
swimming,  whilst  the  priest  read  the  prayers.  It 
was  a  sight,  says  Nestor,  wonderfully  curious 
and  beautiful  to  see;  and  when  the  whole  people 
were  baptized,  each  one  returned  to  his  own  house.'* 
The  spot  was  consecrated  by  the  first  Christian 
church,  and  Kieff,  which  had  already,  which  we 
have  seen  from  old  traditions,  been  the  Glaston- 
6 


82  IMMERSION. 

bury,  became  henceforward  the  Canterbury  of  the 
Russian  Empire."    (East.  Ch.,  p.  291.) 

The  last  instance  records  the  wonderful  success 
of  one  of  our  devoted  missionaries.  In  the  Madras 
Confederacy,  in  1878,  Bro.  J.  E.  Clough,  with  five 
assistants,  baptized  in  six  hours,  two  baptizing  at 
a  time,  2,222  converts.  On  December  28th,  1890, 
1,671  more  were  baptized.  As  these  baptisms  were 
performed  by  Baptist  preachers  I  shall  scarcely 
be  expected  to  offer  proof  that  the  act  was  by 
immersion. 

The  truth  is  that  all  the  great  baptisms  of  the 
world  have  been  by  immersion. 

Here  are  nine  examples  where  thousands  were 
baptized  by  immersion  in  one  day.  These  facts 
will  not  only  answer  any  quibble  that  may  be 
offered  upon  the  "baptism  of  the  three  thousand,'' 
but  demonstrates  that  immersion  was  possible  and 
probable. 


BAPTISM   OF   THE   ETHIOPIAN  EUNUCH.        83 


CHAPTER  X. 

THE  BAPTISM  OF  THE  ETHIOPIAN  EUNUCH. 

ACTS  viii:  38,  39:  "They  went  down  both  into 
the  water,  both  Philip  and  the  eunuch,  and 
he  baptized  him.  And  when  they  came  up  out  of  the 
water  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord  caught  away  Philip/^ 

This  example  is  overwhelmingly  in  favor  of  im- 
mersion. The  force  of  the  preposition  in  this  nar- 
rative can  not  be  overstated.  They  went  down  into 
the  water,  and  came  up  out  of  the  water.  There  is 
not  a  child  ten  years  old  that  does  not  know  what 
is  meant  here,  and  exactly  what  took  place.  It 
takes  a  wise  man  to  explain  away  this  passage; 
and  when  he  gets  through  explaining,  immersion 
is  there  still. 

They  went  into  the  water,  and  came  up  out  of 
the  water.  It  does  not  say  they  went  to  the  pooPs 
brink,  but  they  went  into  the  water,  and  they  came 
out  of  the  water.  I  have  an  idea  that  when  God 
says  they  went  into  the  water,  that  is  exactly  what 
happened.  I  shall  illustrate  by  rather  an  amusing 
incident :  There  was  in  this  State  an  old  Baptist 
preacher  full  of  wit.  He  heard  a  man  preach,  who 
was  not  a  Baptist,  and  he  took  great  pains  to  show 


84  IMMERSION. 

that  '*  into  '^  in  this  scripture  meant  near  by,  at,  in 
the  neighborhood  of.  The  next  day  the  old  man 
saw  this  preacher  walking  in  front  of  a  saloon.  He 
said  nothing,  but  walked  up  the  street  till  he  met 
one  of  his  prominent  members,  and  told  him  he 
saw  his  preacher  down  the  street  in  a  saloon.  The 
preacher  immediately  denied  this  statement  as  a 
foul  slander,  and  tried  to  make  the  old  man  take 
it  back.  '^  I  was  not  in  the  saloon,"  said  he ;  "I 
only  passed  by  it.''  ''But,"  said  the  old  man, 
" '  into,'  yesterday,  meant  near  by,  in  the  neighbor- 
hood of,  and  I  thought  it  meant  the  same  thing  to- 
day. It  means  one  thing  in  a  sermon,  and  another 
thing  in  every-day  life."  No,  sir ;  they  both  went 
down  into  the  water,  and  Philip  immersed  the  eu- 
nuch. 

The  best  Pedobaptist  authorities  agree  with  us 
fully  on  this  position. 

John  Calvin,  Presbyterian,  says :  "  Here  we  per- 
ceive how  baptism  was  administered  among  the  an- 
cients, for  they  immersed  the  whole  body  in  water." 

Dr.  Doddridge  says :  "  It  would  be  very  irrational 
to  suppose  that  they  went  down  to  the  water  merely 
that  Philip  might  take  up  a  little  water  in  his  hand 
to  pour  on  the  eunuch.  A  person  of  his  dignity 
had,  no  doubt,  many  vessels  in  his  baggage  on  such 
a  journey  through  so  desert  a  country — a  precau- 


BAPTISM    OF    THE    ETHIOPIAN    EUNU(  H.         85 

tion  absolutely  necessary  for  travelers  in  those  parte, 
and  never  omitted  by  them."    (Vol.  3,  p.  119.) 

Bishop  EUicott  in  his  Commentary  says :  "  The 
Greek  preposition  might  mean  simply  'unto^  the 
water,  but  the  universality  of  immersion  in  the 
practice  of  the  early  church  supports  the  English 
version.  The  eunuch  would  lay  aside  his  garments, 
descend  chest  deep  into  the  water,  and  be  plunged 
under  it  'in  the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus' — the  only 
formula  recognized  in  the  Acts."  (Com.  vol.  2,  p. 
54.) 

Homersham  Cox  in  his  recent  researches  declares : 
**  This  (immersion)  was  clearly  the  mode  of  baptiz- 
ing the  Ethiopian  eunuch  :  '  They  both  went  down 
into  the  water,  both  Philip  and  the  eunuch,  and  he 
baptized  him.^  "   (The  First  Cen.  of  Christ,  p.  277.) 

The  scholars  teach  that  this  passage  means  im- 
mersion. 

But  this  objection  is  urged.  Philip  read  to  the 
eunuch  the  fifty-third  chapter  of  Isaiah,  and  in  the 
fifteenth  verse  of  the  preceding  chapter  occurs  the 
phrase,  "  so  shall  he  sprinkle  many  nations."  It 
is  taken  for  granted  that  this  "sprinkling"  means 
baptism.  There  is  no  mention  made  of  water  and 
none  of  baptism  in  this  scripture.  "  So "  in  this 
verse  must  refer  to  "as"  in  verse  14  to  complete 
the  antithesis.    The  one  is  commensurate  with  the 


86  immp:rsion. 

other.  In  verse  14  he  is  telling  how  Jesus  shall 
astonish  the  nations  by  his  great  sufferings;  and 
this  verse  must  correspond  with  the  other.  If  this 
is  the  case,  baptism  is  not  the  question  discussed, 
but  the  sufferings  of  the  Son  of  God.  The  word 
sprinkle  then  would  refer  to  the  expiation  Christ 
has  made  for  our  sins.  This  is  often  so  expressed 
in  the  Scriptures,  as  in  Heb.  x ;  22 :  "  Let  us  draw- 
near  with  a  true  heart  in  full  assurance  of  faith, 
having  our  hearts  sj)rinhled  from  an  evil  corificience, 
and  our  bodies  washed  with  pure  water." 

This  passage  can  not  refer  to  baptism  because 
the  word  sprinkle  is  used.  Sprinkle  is  never  used 
for  baptism  in  the  Bible.  Bapfizo,  and  that  alone, 
is  the  word  that  describes  the  ordinance  of  bap- 
tism. This  all  scholars  admit.  Furthermore,  it 
says  he  shall  sprinkle  many  nations.  Baptism  has 
nothing  to  do  with  nations;  it  is  a  personal  mat- 
ter; something  that  each  man  must  perform  for 
himself  The  commission  is,  "  He  that  belie veth 
and  is  baptized  shall  be  saved."  The  New  Testa- 
ment always  places  it  in  this  light,  and  in  none 
other. 

The  best  scholars  say  that  the  word  nazahy  here 
rendered  to  sprinkle,  means  to  astonish.  Gesenius 
defines  nazah,  "to  leap,  to  spring,  to  exult,  to  leap 
for  joy ;  when  applied  to  liquids,  to  spirt,  to  spat- 


BAPTISM   OF   THE   ETHIOPIAN    EUNUCH.        87 

ter,  to  besprinkle."  (Lex.  p.  658.)  But  this  paa- 
eage  does  not  refer  to  liquids ;  it  refers  to  nations. 
But  admitting  that  the  word  means  to  sprinkle,  we 
have  not  one  particle  of  proof  that  the  passage  has 
the  most  distant  application  to  baptism. 

George  R.  Noyes,  Professor  of  Hebrew  in  Har- 
vard University,  in  his  New  Translation  of  the 
Hebrew  Prophets,  1833,  renders  Isaiah  lii:  14, 
15,  thus : 

"  As  many  were  amazed  at  the  sight  of  him, 
So  disfigured  and  scarcely  human  was  his  visage, 
And  his  form  so  unlike  that  of  man, 
So  shall  many  nations  exult  on  account  of  him, 
And  kings  shall  shut  their  mouths  before  him ; 
For  what  had  never  been  told  them  shall  they  see, 
And  what  they  never  heard  shall  they  perceive."     . 

Dr.  Barnes,  the  eminent  Presbyterian  scholar, 
after  fully  discussing  the  various  meanings  of  the 
word,  says :  "  It  may  be  remarked  that  whichever 
of  the  above  senses  may  be  assigned,  it  furnishes 
no  argument  for  the  practice  of  sprinkling  in  bap- 
tism. It  refers  to  the  fact  of  his  purifying  or  cleans- 
ing  the  nations,  and  not  to  the  ordinance  of  Chris- 
tian baptism ;  nor  should  it  be  used  as  an  argument 
in  reference  to  the  mode  in  which  that  should  be 
administered." 

But  this  is  not  all.  Two  hundred  and  eighty-five 
years  before  Christ  the  Old  Testament  was  trans- 


88  IMMERSION. 

lated  into  Greek.  This  was  done  by  seventy-two 
learned  men  appointed  for  the  purpose.  Those 
rabbis  understood  the  Hebrew  perfectly  well,  and 
they  translated  this  word  nazah  by  the  Greek  word 
thaumazo,  to  astonish,  a  word  which  never  means 
to  sprinkle.  To  show  how  authoritative  this  trans- 
lation is,  it  is  only  necessary  to  state  that  our  Sav- 
iour and  his  apostles  used  it  nearly  altogether. 

From  whatever  standpoint  we  look  at  this  pas- 
sage it  can  mean  nothing  but  immersion. 


PAULAS   BAPTISM. 


89 


CHAPTER  XI. 

PAUL'S  BAPTISM. 

PEDOBAPTISTS  say  more  of  PauPs  baptism 
than  of  any  other  in  the  New  Testament; 
yet,  when  rightly  considered,  it  affords  them  no 
argument  whatever.  This  Scripture  reads  as  fol- 
lows : — 

"  And  why  tarriest  thou?  arise,  and  be  baptized, 
and  wash  away  thy  sins,  calling  on  the  name  of 
the  Lord."     (Acts  xxii :  16.) 

I  shall  examine  some  points  in  this  Scripture. 
It  must  be  remembered  that  this  is  the  proof 
text  of  the  Pedobaptists,  and  if  I  answer  all 
objections,  and  show  that  this  passage  is  not  incon- 
sistent with,  and  is  even  favorable  to  immersion,  I 
have  accomplished  all  that  is  necessary  to  my 
argument. 

"  Arise.''  They  make  great  capital  out  of  this 
word.  ''  Paul,"  say  they,  "  simply  got  up  and  wa.s 
baptized  where  he  stood."  Does  anastas,  the 
Greek  word  for  arise,  mean  a  standing  still?  It 
does  not.  The  man  may  or  may  not  stand  still. 
Liddell  and  Scott  not  only  say  it  means  to  "  arise," 
but  to  make  **  people  arise  to  leave  their  homes." 


90  IMMERSION. 

And  Thayer  says,  "  those  who  leave  a  place  to  go 
elsewhere  ;  hence,  of  those  who  prepare  themselves 
for  a  journey/'  Robinson,  "He  arose  and  fol- 
lowed." According  to  the  Lexicons  Paul  arose 
and  went  to  another  place  and  was  baptized.  May 
I  suggest  one  of  the  "rivers  of  Damascus?" 
(2  Kings  v:  12.) 

Do  the  instances  where  anastas  occur,  imply  a 
standing  still  after  the  person  has  arisen  ?  Homer 
relates  that  Ulysses  came  in  with  a  stag  on  his 
shoulders,  threw  it  down  and  said  to  his  com- 
panions, "  arise  and  eat."  Yet  the  stag  had  to  be 
prepared  and  cooked  before  they  ate,  and  parts  of 
it  were  eaten  in  another  place.  This  participle  is 
used  several  times  in  the  ninth  chapter  of  the 
Acts,  where  the  baptism  of  Paul  is  mentioned, 
and  always  with  the  idea  of  motion.  Verse  11  th  : 
"arise,  and  go  into  the  street  that  is  called 
Straight;"  v.  18th,  "he  arose  and  was  bap- 
tized ; "  vs.  34th,  "  Eneas,  Jesus  Christ  maketh 
thee  whole;  arise,  and  make  thy  bed."  Actsx: 
13,  "Arise,  Peter,  slay  and  eat;"  v.  20th,  "arise 
thee,  therefore,  and  get  thee  down."  Every  one 
of  these  examples  shows  that  the  persons  did  not 
stand  still.  I  have  not  found  a  single  example 
where  anastas  does  not  imply  motion. 

"  Be  Baptized."     If  there  was  no  other  word  in 


Paul's  baptism.  91 

this  entire  sentence  this  would  be  sufficient  to  tell 
what  was  meant.  As  Connybeare  and  Howson 
say :  '^  He  was  baptized,  and  the  rivers  of 
Damascus  became  more  to  him  than  all  the 
waters  of  Judah."  (Life  and  Epis.  p.  89.)  Or 
as  Bishop  EUicott  says  in  his  Commentary :  "  The 
baptism  would  probably  be  administered  in  one  or 
the  other  of  the  rivers  which  the  history  of  Naa- 
man  had  made  famous,  and  so  the  waters  of  Abana 
and  Pharpar,  rivers  of  Damascus,  were  now  sanc- 
tified no  less  than  the  Jordan  for  the  "  mystical 
washing  away  of  sin."  But  Paul  himself  tells 
how  he  was  baptized :  "  We  are  buried  with  him 
by  baptism  into  death."  (Rom.  vi ;  3.)  The  "  we" 
includes  himself  along  with  the  Romans.  This  is 
a  clear  case  of  immersion. 

"Wash  away  thy  sins."  The  word  used  for 
wash  is  louo,  in  the  middle  voice.  There  are 
words  to  express  the  washing  of  the  several  parts 
of  the  body ;  but  louo  means  the  washing  or  bath- 
ing of  the  entire  body.  In  the  active  voice  it 
means  to  wash,  to  bathe  ;  and  in  the  middle  voice 
a  washing  by  bathing.  As  a  learned  and  candid 
writer  has  said  that  if  the  word  baptize  was  doubt- 
ful, the  use  of  louo  would  settle  Paul's  baptism. 
Here  is  what  the  Lexicons  say.  Dr.  Robinson  : 
Louo   "signifies    to    wash    the    entire    body,   not 


92  IMMERSION. 

merely  a  pari  of  it,  like  nipto.^^  Trench :  ^^Nip- 
tein  and  nipsasthai  almost  always  express  the 
washing  of  a  part  of  the  body ;  while  loueiuy  which 
is  not  so  much  ^  to  wash '  as  '  to  bathe/  and 
lousthai,  or  in  common  Greek  huesthai,  to  '  bathe 
one's  self/  imply  always  not  the  bathing  of  a 
part  of  the  body,  but  of  the  whole."  Liddell 
and  Scott :  "  Wash  the  body,  to  wash  one^s  self, 
to  bathe."  Thayer  says,  "  louo  refers  to  the  whole 
of  the  body,  nipto  to  a  part." 

Louo  was  plainly  used  in  this  signification 
among  the  Greeks.  Homer  represents  a  star  just 
rising  fresh  from  ocean's  bath.  He  also  says  of 
some  of  the  companions  of  Telemachus  : — 

"Thence  to  the  bath,  a  beauteous  pile,  descend." 

Jupiter  gives  direction  to  Apollo  to  cleanse  the 
body  of  Sarpedon,  and  then  bathe  it  in  the 
river. 

**  Phoebus,  my  son,  delay  not  from  beneath 
Yon  hill  of  weapons  drawn,  cleanse  from  his  blood 
Sarpedon's  corse ;  then,  bearing  him  remote, 
Lave  him  in  waters  of  the  running  stream." 

In  the  Bible  it  is  used :  1.  As  synonymous  with 
baptize.  (2  Kings  v:  10,  14.)  Elisha  told  Naaman 
to  go  and  wash,  and  he  went  and  dipped  himself 
in  the  Jordan.  2.  It  is  used  for  baptize  in  Heb. 
x:  22:     "Having  your  bodies  washed  or  bathed 


PAULAS    BAPTISM.  9S 

in  pure  water."  Here  the  entire  body  is  to  be 
washed.  This  washing  was,  therefore,  equal  to  an 
immersion.  I  can  not  refrain  from  referring  to 
two  poets  who  have  spoken  of  the  washing  of  our 
bodies  as  emblematic  of  the  washing  away  of 
gin.     Milton  says : 

"Them who  shall  believe 
Baptized  in  the  profluent  stream,  the  sign 
Of  washing  them  from  the  guilt  of  sin  to  life 
Pure,  and  in  him  prepared,  if  so  befall, 
For  death,  like  that  which  the  Redeemer  died." 

Cowper  said: 

"  There  is  a  fountain  filled  with  blood, 
Drawn  from  Immanuel'*  veins, 
And  sinners  plunged  beneath  that  flood 
Lose  all  their  guilty  stains." 

I  would  therefore  record  it  as  my  earnest  oon- 
viotion  that  this  passage  teaches  immersion. 


94  IMMERSION. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

THE  BAPTISM  OF  THE  JAILER. 

rri HE  baptism  of  the  jailer  appears  to  give  some 
-*-  of  our  Pedobaptist  brethren  a  good  deal  of 
comfort.  Thus  Dr.  Summers  states  the  case  from 
the  Methodist  standpoint :  "  The  Phih'ppian  jailer 
too  must  have  been  baptized  by  affiision.  His 
conversion  took  place  in  the  prison — at  midnight — 
and  he  and  all  his  were  baptized  straightway.  We 
are  sure  that  Paul  and  Silas  did  not  take  them 
down  to  the  river — especially  at  that  unseemly 
hour — and  plunge  them  into  it;  for  the  noble- 
minded  prisoners  would  not  leave  the  precincts  of 
the  jail  until  they  were  taken  out,  in  daylight,  by 
proper  authority.  And  it  is  equally  gratuitous  and 
absurd  to  say  there  was  a  bath  or  tank  in  the  prison, 
in  which  the  jailer  and  his  family  were  immersed. 
A  small  portion  of  the  water  which  he  brought 
into  the  prison  to  wash  the  apostle's  ^stripes,'  was 
sufficient  for  his  baptism,  as,  like  all  the  other 
cases  of  baptism  of  which  any  particulars  are  given 
in  the  New  Testament,  it  was  administered  by 
pouring  or  aspersion."  (Summers  on  Bap.,  p.  87.) 
There  is  one  serious  objection  to  this  statement 


BAPTISM   OF   THE    JAILER.  95 

of  the  case  by  Dr.  Summers.  He  and  the  Scrip- 
tures do  not  agree.  I  prefer  to  follow  the  Word 
of  God.  Dr.  Summers  assumes  that  the  conversion 
takes  place  in  the  jail,  that  they  were  baptized  in 
the  jail,  that  a  small  portion  of  the  water  that  was 
brought  into  the  jail  to  wash  the  stripes  was  used 
for  baptizing.  That  is  a  very  pretty  theory  if  it 
were  true.  The  Bible  reads  another  way.  Here  is 
the  way  it  is  recorded  in  Acts  xvi:  27-34 :  "And 
the  keeper  of  the  prison  awaking  out  of  his  sleep, 
and  seeing  the  prison  doors  open,  he  drew  out  his 
sword,  and  would  have  killed  himself,  supposing 
that  the  prisoners  had  been  fled.  But  Paul  cried 
with  a  loud  voice,  saying,  '  Do  thyself  no  harm ; 
for  we  are  all  here.^  Then  he  called  for  a  light, 
and  sprang  in,  and  came  trembling,  and  fell  down 
before  Paul  and  Silas,  and  brought  them  out,  and 
said,  ^  Sirs,  what  must  I  do  to  be  saved  ? '  And 
they  said,  '  Believe  on  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and 
thou  shalt  be  saved,  and  thy  house.'  And  they 
spake  unto  him  the  word  of  the  Lord,  and  to  all 
that  ivere  in  his  house  (not  in  the  prison).  And  he 
took  than  the  same  hour  of  the  night,  and  washed 
their  stripes;  and  was  baptized,  he  and  all  of  his, 
straightway.  And  when  he  had  brought  them  into 
his  house,  he  set  meat  before  them,  and  rejoiced, 
believing  in  God  with  all  his  house." 


96  IMMERSION. 

Nothing  is  more  evident  than  that  the  conversion 
did  not  take  place  in  the  prison,  and  that  the  bap- 
tism did  not  take  place  in  either  the  house  or  the 
prison.  The  Scriptures  say  this  so  plainly  that 
there  can  be  no  doubt  as  to  the  facts  in  the  case. 
The  harmony  between  our  Methodist  brother  here 
and  the  Scriptures  is  not  apparent. 

Why  was  it  a  thing  incredible  that  Paul  and 
Silas  carried  this  family  down  "  to  the  river  side/* 
and  immersed  them  in  the  river  Strymon,  which 
ran  hard  by  the  city?  I  see  nothing  impossible 
or  absurd  in  this.  The  absurdity  rests  with  the 
man  who  does  not  wish  to  obey  the  commandments 
of  our  God.  The  river  was  there,  and  if  a  river  is 
not  good  for  baptismal  purposes  what  is  it  good 
for? 

There  is  no  doubt  that  near  the  house  of  the 
jailer  there  was  a  suitable  place  for  immersion. 
Those  who  know  any  thing  about  Eastern  houses 
will  have  no  room  to  doubt  this.  Dr.  Hibbard,  the 
great  Methodist  writer  on  baptism,  says,  bathing 
was  a  custom  "  indispensable  to  pleasure,  to  decency 
And  to  health.''  (Bap.,  p.  152.)  And  if  this  is  a 
fact,  is  it  not  likely  that  the  jailer  would  have  had 
such  a  place  convenient  ?  In  this  connection  the 
two  Episcopalian  scholars,  Conybeare  and  Howson, 
Bay :  "  In  the  same  hour  of  the  night  the  jailer  took 


BAPTISM   OF   THE    JAILER.  97 

the  Apostles  to  the  well  or  fountain  of  water  which 
was  within  or  near  the  precincts  of  the  prison,  and 
there  he  washed  their  wounds,  and  there  he  and 
his  household  were  baptized.  He  did  what  he 
could  to  assuage  the  bodily  pain  of  Paul  and  Silas, 
and  they  admitted  him  and  his,  by  the  laver  of 
regeneration,  to  the  spiritual  citizenship  of  the 
kingdom  of  God.  The  prisoners  of  the  jailer  had 
now  become  his  guests."     ( Life  and  Epis.,  p.  267.) 

The  Scriptures  were  plain  enough  that  they  were 
not  baptized  in  the  jail,  but  what  was  to  hinder 
there  being  a  bath  in  the  jail?  One  of  the  fore- 
most Pedobaptist  scholars  in  the  world  has  lately 
made  the  statement  that  there  was  probably  a  bath 
in  the  prison.  Prof.  Plumptre,  in  Bishop  Ellicott's 
Commentary,  says  :  '  'A  public  prison  was  likely 
enough  to  contain  a  bath  or  pool  of  some  kind, 
where  the  former  (immersion)  would  be  feasible. " 
(Ellicott,  Com.,  vol.  2,  p.  109.)  I  can  afford  to  risk 
such  scholars  as  BishopEllicott  and  Prof.  Plumptre. 

I  shall  use  an  ad  hominem  argument.  Our  Meth- 
odist and  Presbyterian  brethren  have  fully  illus- 
trated, in  the  last  few  years,  the  meaning  of  this 
scripture.  They  have  repeatedly  done  the  very 
thing  they  said  could  not  be  done.  There  are  fre- 
quent instances  where  Pedobaptist  ministers  have 
immersed  persons  in  jail.     What  I  want  to  know 


98  IMMERSION. 

is  this :  When  was  the  truth  told ;  when  they  de- 
clared that  this  thing  was  absurd  and  impossible, 
or  when  they-  were  immersing  persons  in  the  jail 
aft^r  the  manner  of  Paul  and  and  Silas? 

I  give  some  examples.  Kev.  T.  T.  Eaton,  D.D., 
LL.D.,  of  Louisville,  Ky.,  writes  me  as  follows: 

Gloucester,  Mass.,  Aug.  7th,  1890. 
Dear  Bro.  Christian: 

Your  letter  was  forwarded  to  me  here.  The  case 
of  Shade  "Westmoreland  is  well  known  in  Chatta- 
nooga. I  think  it  was  in  the  spring  of  1874  that 
he  was  executed.  The  facts  are  that  he  lay  in  jail 
in  Chattanooga,  charged  with  murder,  for  fully  a 
year.  Once  he  took  an  appeal  to  the  supreme  court, 
and  they  remanded  the  case  to  the  court  below  on 
some  point.  The  court  failed  to  hold  a  session  once 
on  account  of  the  cholera^s  raging  in  Chattanooga. 
That  was  the  summer  and  fall  of  1873.  I  visited 
him  in  jail  several  times,  and  talked  and  prayed 
with  him.  At  the  date  of  execution  I  was  called 
to  be  absent  at  Hopkinsville,  Ky.  I  bade  him 
good-by,  and  he  expressed  regret  that  I  could  not 
"attend  to  him"  at  his  execution.  I  told  him  that 
any  of  the  ministers  w^ould  readily  be  with  him, 
and  named  Revs.  Bachman  and  Bays.  On  the 
morning  of  the  execution  they  were  at  the  jail, 


BAPTISM    OF    THE   JAILER.  '    99 

He  asked  to  be  baptized.  They  were  ready  to  use 
a  pitcher,  but  he  demanded  immersion.  The  jailer 
was  unwilling  that  he  (W.)  should  be  taken  to  the 
river,  and  so  Fletcher  Rogers  soon  had  a  big  bath- 
tub in  the  jail,  and  the  Revs.  J.  W.  Bachman  (Pas- 
tor of  the  Presbyterian  Church)  and  W.  W.  Bays 
(Pastor  of  the  iSIethodist  Episcopal  Church  South) 
did  immerse  Shade  Westmoreland  in  the  tub  in 
the  jail.  Bro.  Bachman  said  to  me  afterwards :  "  I 
thought  we  were  giving  you  an  argument  when  we 
were  doing  that."  I  do  not  recall  the  exact  date, 
though  that  could  readily  be  ascertained  from  the 
court  records.  Hoping  this  is  satisfactory,  I  am 
Yours  fraternally,         T.  T.  Eaton. 

Rev.  A.  J.  Kincaid,  of  Fort  Smith,  Ark.,  writes: 
Fort  Smith,  Ark.,  July  30th,  1890. 
Eld.  J.  T.  Christian,  Jackson j  Miss.: 

Dear  Brother, — Just  about  one  year  ago  now. 
Rev.  J.  L.  Massey,  of  the  M.  E.  Church  of  this 
city,  preached  a  rousing  sermon  (so  he  thought)  on 
baptism,  in  which  he  seemed  to  try  to  annihilate 
immersion  and  all  who  practice  it. 

In  the  course  of  his  sermon  he  said  that  he  had 
had  to  perform  that  indecent  act,  bui  that  he  hoped 
to  God  that  he  would  never  have  it  to  do  again. 
Through  with  his  tirade  on  baptism,  he  came  down 


100  IMMERSION. 

from  his  pulpit  and  offered  an  opportunity  for 
church-membership,  when  a  lady  came  to  join  his 
church.  He  received  her,  and  reached  for  a  glass 
of  water,  when  the  lady  said  to  him  :  "  Oh,  no,  Mr. 
Massey,  that  won't  do  me ;  you  must  immerse  me.'* 
So  he  had  to  take  her  to  the  Campbellite  Church, 
or  to  the  river — I  am  not  certain  which — and  im- 
merse her.  I  think  he  went  with  her  to  the  Camp- 
bellite Church. 

That  same  week  there  were  several  men  in  the 
U.  S.  prison  here  who  were  to  be  hanged.  One  of 
them  sent  for  Mr.  Massey,  and  he  went  to  see  him 
and  had  some  religious  service  with  him,  and  the 
prisoner  professed  faith,  and  wanted  to  be  baptized. 
The  Rev.  gentleman  called  for  a  cup  of  water.  The 
prisoner  objected,  and  said  that  would  not  do  him ; 
that  he  must  put  him  under  the  water.  In  the  rear 
of  the  prison  are  some  large  troughs  of  water, 
where  he  took  him  and  immersed  him.  It  was  done 
in  the  prison.  They  have  arrangements  in  the 
prison  yard  for  the  same  thing.  Indeed  it  frequent- 
ly occurs  here. 

I  did  not  see  these  things  with  my  own  eyes, 
but  I  have  them  from  those  who  did. 

Fraternally,         A.  J.  Kincaid. 

Rev.  J.  S.  Dill,  of  Goldsboro,  N.  C,  writes: 


BAPTISM    OF   THF   JAILER.  101 

GoLDSBORO,  N.  C,  Nov.  Ist,  1890. 
J.  T.  Christian,  D.  D.  : 

My  Dear  Bro., — In  reply  to  your  inquiry  about 
the  jail  baptism  in  Goldsboro  I  cheerfully  certify 
to  the  following ;  One  Bud  Anderson,  having  been 
condemned  to  be  hung  for  murder,  made  a  profes- 
sion of  faith,  and  was,  in  the  county  jail  at  Golds- 
boro, immersed  by  a  Free-will  Baptist  preacher. 
The  immersion  was  conveniently  performed  in  a 
large  bath-tub.  I  visited  Mr.  Anderson  several 
times,  and  received  from  him  an  account  of  his 
baptism.  I  think  the  baptism  was  witnessed  by 
W.  R.  Parker,  then  deputy  sheriff,  and  for  many 
years  a  member  of  the  Missionary  Baptist  Church. 
The  event  occurred  in  the  year  1889. 

Fraternally,  J.  S.  Dill, 

Pastor  Baptist  Church, 


102  IMMERSION. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

THE  ARGUMENT  FROM  ROM.  VI:  4. 

"Ty^NOW  ye  not,  that  so  many  of  us  as  were 
baptized  into  Jesus  Christ  were  baptized 
into  his  death?  Therefore  we  are  buried  with 
him  by  baptism  into  death  :  that  like  as  Chl-ist  was 
raised  up  from  the  dead  by  the  glory  of  the  Father, 
even  so  we  also  should  walk  in  the  newness  of 
life/^  (Rom.  vi:  3,  4.  Also  Comp.  Col.  ii :  12.) 
There  is  no  more  pointed  passage  in  the  word 
of  God.  This  Scripture  unquestionably  teaches 
immersion.  There  is  no  sort  of  doubt  about  it. 
There  is  no  explanation  that  could  make  this 
passage  mean  any  thing  else.  It  directly  refers 
to  the  resurrection  of  Jesus  from  the  grave.  As 
he  was  buried  in  the  grave  so  we  are  buried  in 
the  wat-er,  and  as  he  arose  from  the  grave  so  we 
arise  from  the  watery  grave  where  we  have  been 
laid.  Our  baptism  thus  becomes  a  pledge  of  our 
future  burial  and  resurrection.  It  contains  in  sym- 
bol the  whole  of  the  Gospel  of  Christ.  Sprinkling 
and  pouring  can  in  no  wise  symbolize  a  burial 
and  resurrection.  A  "drop  of  water  is  not  aa 
good    as    an    ocean  '^  in    this  instance.     Some   of 


ARGUMENT   FROM    ROM.  VI.  103 

our  Pedobaptist  brethren  try  to  argue  that  this 
refers  to  a  spiritual  baptism,  and  that  therefore  it 
does  not  refer  to  immersion.  I  could  grant  most 
readily  that  this  passage  had  reference  to  a  spirit- 
ual baptism,  and  still  hold  with  every  degree  of 
reason  that  it  refers  to  immersion.  The  spiritual 
baptism  would  have  an  outward  symbol  or  sign, 
and  nothing  would  more  fitly  represent  this  than 
an  immersion  in  water.  This,  however,  is  a  mere 
begging  of  the  question.  The  scholarship  of  the 
world  is  unanimously  opposed  to  this  idea  and  in 
favor  of  a  literal  baptism.  I  scarcely  know  an 
authority  that  does  not  take  this  view  of  the  sub- 
ject. The  fact  is,  the  scholarship  of  the  world  has 
put  this  Scripture  beyond  dispute.  This  is  the 
one  of  the  few  passages  that  practically  all  com- 
mentators agree  as  teaching  the  same  thing.  I 
shall  give  a  few  of  the  hundreds  of  scholars  who 
have  written  upon  this  subject.  You  will  see  that 
they  reflect  the  sentiments  of  all  denominations : 

Canon  Liddon,  Episcopalian,  on  Easter  Sunday, 
1889,  preached  a  sermon  upon  "  The  Likeness  of 
Christ's  Resurrection. ''  After  showing  that  Jesus 
Christ  really  died  upon  the  cross,  the  Canon 
pointed  out  that  according  to  PauPs  teaching  the 
convert  to  Christianity  should  really  die  to  sin. 
*'  Of  this,"  he  proceeded,  "  the  apostle  traced  the 


104  IMMERSION. 

token  in  the  ceremony,  at  that  time  universal,  of 
baptism  by  immersion.  As  Jesus,  crucified  and 
dead,  was  laid  in  the  grave  by  Joseph  of  Arima- 
thea,  so  the  Christian,  crucified  to  the  world 
through  the  body  of  Christ  descends,  as  into  the 
tomb,  into  the  baptismal  waters.  He  was  buried 
beneath  them;  they  closed  for  a  moment  over  hira ; 
he  was  '  planted,'  Paul  would  have  said,  not  only 
in  the  likeness  of  Christ's  death,  but  of  his  burial. 
But  the  immersion  is  over;  the  Christian  is  lifted 
from  the  flood,  and  this  evidently  corresponded  to 
the  resurrection  of  Christ  as  the  descent  had  been 
to  his  burial.  'Buried  with  him  in  baptism 
wherein  ye  are  also  risen  with  him.' " 

John  Wesley,  Methodist,  says:  *' We  are  buried 
with  him — alluding  to  the  ancient  manner  of  bap- 
tizing by  immersion." 

Dr.  Chalmers,  Presbyterian,  says :  ''  The  orig- 
inal meaning  of  the  word  baptism  is  immersion; 
and  though  we  regard  it  as  a  point  of  indiiferency 
whether  the  ordinance  so  named  be  performed  in 
this  way  or  by  sprinkling,  yet  we  doubt  not  that  the 
prevalent  style  of  administration  in  the  apostle's 
days,  was  by  an  actual  submerging  of  the  body  under 
water.  We  advert  to  this,  for  the  purpose  of  throw- 
ing light  on  the  analogy  that  is  instituted  in  these 
verses.     Jesus   Christ,    by  death,  underwent  this 


ARGUMENT   FROM    ROM.    VI.  105 

sort  of  baptism — even  immersion  under  the  surface 
of  the  ground,  whence  he  soon  emerged  again 
by  his  resurrection.  We,  by  being  baptized  into 
his  death,  are  conceived  to  have  made  a  similar 
translation." 

Est,  Chancellor  of  the  celebrated  Catholic  Uni- 
versity of  Douay,  says :  "  For  immersion  represents 
to  us  Christ's  burial,  and  so  also  his  death.  For 
the  tomb  is  a  symbol  of  death,  since  none  but  the 
dead  are  buried.  Moreover,  the  emersion,  which 
follows  the  immersion,  has  a  resemblance  to  the 
resurrection.  We  are  therefore  in  baptism  con- 
formed not  only  to  the  death  of  Christ,  as  he  has 
just  said,  but  also  to  his  burial  and  resurrection." 

Meyer,  the  great  German  scholar,  says :  "  The 
recipient  of  baptism,  who  by  his  baptism  enters 
into  the  fellowship  of  death  with  Christ,  is  neces- 
sarily also  in  the  act  of  baptism  ethically  buried 
with  him,  because  after  baptism  he  is  spiritually 
risen  with  him.  In  reality  this  burial  with  him 
is  not  a  moml  fact  distinct  from  the  having  died 
with  him,  as  actual  burial  is  distinct  from  actual 
dying ;  but  it  sets  forth  the  fullness  and  complete- 
ness of  the  relation,  of  which  the  recipient,  in  ac- 
cordance with  the  form  of  baptism,  so  far  as  the 
latter  takes  place  through  the  kataclusin  and  ana- 
dttsiriy  becomes  conscious  successively.     The  recip- 


106  IMMERSION. 

ient — thus  had  Paul  figuratively  represented  the 
process — is  conscious,  (a)  in  the  baptism  gener- 
ally:  now. I  am  entered  into  the  fellowship  with 
the  death  of  Christ ;  (6)  in  the  immersion  in  par- 
ticular: now  I  am  becoming  buried  with  Christ; 
(c)  and  then  in  the  emergence:  now  I  rise  to  the 
new  life  with  Christ/' 

Charles  W.  Bennett,  edited  by  Bishop  John  F. 
Hurst  and  George  R.  Crooks,  Methodist,  says  in 
his  new  Archseology:  "The  terms  of  scripture  de- 
scribing the  rite,  most  of  the  figures  used  by  the 
writers  of  the  New  Testament  to  indicate  its  sig- 
nificance— Rom.  vi:  4;  Col.  ii :  12,  etc. — the  ex- 
planations of  the  Apostolic  Constitutions,  the  com- 
ments of  the  foremost  Christian  fathers  for  the  first 
six  centuries,  and  the  express  instructions  of  eccle- 
siastical councils,  indicate  that  immersion  was  the 
more  usual  mode  of  baptism." 

Adam  Clarke,  Metho(list,  says:  "It  is  probable 
that  the  Apostle  here  alludes  to  the  mode  of  ad- 
ministering baptism  by  immersion,  the  whole  body 
being  put  under  water,  which  seems  to  say,  the 
man  is  drowned,  is  dead;  and  when  he  came  up 
out  of  the  water,  he  seemed  to  have  a  resurrection 
to  life,  the  man  is  risen  again,  he  is  alive." 

Albert  Barnes,  Presbyterian,  states ;  "  It  is  alto- 


ABGUMENT   FROM   ROM.   VI.  107 

gether  probable  that  the  Apostle  in  this  place  had 
allusion  to  the  custom  of  baptizing  by  immersion." 
Conybeare  and  Howson,  Episcopalians,  say : ''  This 
passage  can  not  be  understood  unless  it  be  borne  in 
mind  that  the  primitive  baptism  was  by  immersion." 
(Life  and  Epis.  p.  557.) 

Canon  Farrar,  Episcopalian,  says:  "The  dipping 
under  the  waters  of  baptism  is  his  union  with  Christ's 
death ;  his  rising  out  of  the  waters  of  baptism  is  a 
resurrection  with  Christ,  and  the  birth  to  a  new 
life."    (Life  and  Works  of  Paul,  p.  362.) 

Prof.  J.  J.  Oosterzee,  Professor  in  the  University 
of  Utrecht,  in  his  recent  work  on  Christian  Dog- 
matics, vol.  2,  p.  749,  says  :  "  This  sprinkling,  which 
appears  to  have  come  first  generally  into  use  in  the 
thirteenth  century,  in  place  of  the  entire  immersion 
of  the  body,  in  imitation  of  the  previous  baptism 
of  the  sick,  has  certainly  this  imperfection,  that  the 
symbolical  character  of  the  act  is  expressed  by  it 
much  less  conspicuously  than  by  complete  immer- 
sion and  burial  under  water." 

I  will  close  this  chapter  with  a  statement  of  Dr. 
George  P.  Fisher,  Professor  of  Ecclesiastical  His- 
tory in  Yale  University,  1887,  Beginnings  of  Chris- 
tianity, p.  565:  "Baptism,  it  is  now  generally  agreed 
among  scholars,  was  commonly  by  immersion." 


108  IMMERSION. 

CHAPTER  Xiy. 
WHAT  THE  GREEK  FATHERS  SAY. 

^VTO  one  doubts  that  there  is  much  obscurity 
connected  with  many  of  the  authors  and  in 
the  writings  of  those  who  are  commonly  called  the 
fathers.  The  most  remarkable  errors  are  advo- 
cated, and  the  closest  discrimination  must  be  used 
in  rating  their  value.  Yet  upon  the  action  of 
baptism  we  can  safely  follow  them  ;  because  this 
relates  to  the  use  of  a  word  and  a  mere  statement 
of  facts.  It  is  not  a  question  of  deductions  and 
fancies,  but  of  an  act  received  from  the  apostles. 
In  this  regard  their  testimony  may  be  regarded 
highly.  I  shall  not  enter  into  a  discussion  as  to 
the  authenticity  of  their  writings,  but  set  them 
down  as  belonging  to  the  years  in  which  they  are 
usually  set  down  by  scholars. 

Among  the  so-called  Apostolic  fathers  Barnabas 
is  the  only  one  who  speaks  of  baptism,  and  his 
reference  is  clearly  to  immersion. 

Barnabas,  A.  D.  119,  says:  "Blessed  are  they 
who,  placing  their  trust  in  the  cross,  have  gone 
down  into  the  water;  for,  says  he,  they  shall  re- 
ceive their  reward  in  due  time;  then  he  declares, 


WHAT  THE  GREEK  FATHERS  SAY.  109 

I  will  recompense  them.  .  .  .  This  meaneth, 
that  we  indeed  descend  into  the  water  full  of  sins 
and  defilement,  but  come  up  bearing  fruit  in  our 
heart,  having  the  fear  of  God  and  trust  in  Jesus 
in  our  spirits."  ( Epis.  xi,  Ante-Nic.  Fath.,  vol.  1, 
p.  144.) 

Justin  Martyr,  A.  D.  139,  is  the  first  who  gives 
a  detailed  statement  of  how  baptism  was  per- 
formed. We  are  willing  to  accept  this  statement 
of  the  act.  "  I  will  also  relate,"  says  he,  "  the 
manner  in  which  we  dedicate  ourselves  to  God, 
where  we  have  been  made  new  through  Christ; 
lest,  if  we  omit  this,  we  seem  to  be  unfair  in 
the  explanation  we  are  making,  as  many  as  are 
persuaded  and  believe  that  what  we  teach  and 
say  is  true,  and  undertake  to  be  able  to  live 
accordingly,  are  instructed  to  pray  and  to  entreat 
God  with  fasting,  for  the  remission  of  the  sins 
that  are  past,  we  praying  and  fasting  with  them. 
Then  they  are  brought  by  us  where  there  is  water, 
and  are  regenerated  in  the  same  manner  in  which 
we  ourselves  were  regenerated.  For  in  the  name 
of  God,  the  Father,  and  Lord  of  the  universe,  and 
of  our  Saviour  Jesus  Christ,  and  of  the  Holy 
Spirit,  they  receive  the  washing  with  water." 
(1  Apol.  ch.  Ixi,  Ante-Nic.  Fath.,  vol.  1,  p.  183.) 

This  passage  unquestionably  refers  to  immersion. 


110  IMMERSION. 

Moses  Stuart,  the  Congregationalist,  commenting 
upon  it,  says  :  ''I  am  persuaded  that  this  passage 
as  a  whole,  most  naturally  refers  to  immersion, 
for  why  on  any  other  ground  should  the  convert 
who  is  to  be  initiated  go  out  to  the  place  where 
there  is  water.  There  could  be  no  need  of  this  if 
mere  sprinkling,  or  partial  affusion  only,  was  cus- 
tomary in  the  time  of  Justin."    (On  Bap.,  p.  144.) 

Irenseus,  A.  D.  177,  says,  speaking  of  Naaman  : 
"And  dipped  himself,  (says  the  Scripture,)  seven 
times  in  Jordan.  It  was  not  for  nothing  that 
Naaman  of  old,  when  suffering  from  leprosy,  was 
purified  upon  his  being  baptized,  but  (it  served) 
as  an  indication  to  us.  For  as  we  are  lepers  in 
sin,  we  are  made  clean,  by  means  of  the  sacred 
water,  and  the  invocations  of  the  Lord,  from  our 
old  transgressions;  being  spritually  regenerated  as 
new  born  babes,  even  as  the  Lord  has  declared  : 
except  a  man  be  born  again  through  the  water  and 
the  Spirit,  he  shall  not  enter  the  kingdom  of 
heaven."  (Frag.  34.,  Ante-Nic.  Fath.,  vol.  1,  p.  574.) 

The  Pastor  of  Hermas,  A.D.  160,  says  :  "  They 
were  obliged  to  ascend  through  water  in  order  that 
they  might  be  made  alive ;  for,  unless  the  dcadness 
of  their  life  was  laid  aside,  they  coukl  not  in  any 
way  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  God.  .  .  .  The 
seal  is  the  water ;  they  descend  into  the  water  dead, 


WHAT  THE  GREEK  FATHERS  SAY.  Ill 

and  they  arise  alive."     (Sim.   ix,  ch.  xvi,   Ante- 
Nic.  Fath.,  vol.  2,  p.  49.) 

Origen,  A.  D.  184—254,  says  :  "  The  washing  in 
water  is  the  symbol  of  the  purification  of  the  soul 
cleansed  of  all  impurity  of  sin.''  (Com.  John, 
t.  viii.)  Again,  "  Man  therefore  through  this  wash- 
ing buried  with  Christ  in  regeneration."  (Com. 
Math.) 

Hippolytus,  A.  D.  236,  appears  as  a  western 
preacher  speaking  and  writing  in  Greek.  He  says  : 
*'  Do  you  see,  beloved,  how  the  prophets  spake  be- 
fore time  of  the  purifying  power  of  baptism.  For 
he  who  comes  down  in  faith  to  the  laver  of  regen- 
eration, and  renounces  the  devil,  and  joins  himself 
to  Christ;  who  denies  the  enemy,  and  makes  the 
confession  that  Christ  is  God ;  who  puts  oif  the 
bondage  and  puts  on  the  adoption, — he  comes  up 
from  the  baptism  as  brilliant  as  the  sun,  and  flash- 
ing forth  the  beams  of  righteousness,  which,  indeed, 
is  the  chief  thing,  he  returns  a  son  of  God  and 
joint  heir  with  Christ."  (Holy.  Theoph.,  Ante- 
Nic.  Fath.,  vol.  5,  p.  237.) 

Baron  Bunsen,  who  discovered  the  lost  books  of 
Hippolytus,  has  this  to  say  :  "  The  apostolic  church 
made  the  school  the  connecting  link  between  her- 
self and  the  world.  The  object  of  this  education 
was  admission  into   the  free  society  and  brother- 


112  IMMERSION. 

hood  of  the  church  and  community.  The  church 
adhered  rigidly  to  the  principle,  as  constituting  the 
true  import  of  the  baptism  ordained  of  Christ,  that 
no  one  can  be  a  member  of  the  communion  of 
saints,  but  by  his  own  free  acts  and  deeds,  his  own 
solemn  vow  made  in  the  presence  of  the  church. 
It  was  with  this  understanding  that  the  candidate 
for  baptism  was  immersed  in  water,  and  admitted 
as  a  brother,  upon  his  confession  of  the  Father, 
the  Son,  the  Holy  Ghost.^'  (Hip.  His  Age,  vol.  2, 
p.  105.) 

Gregory  Thaumaturgus,  A.  D.  240,  represents 
Jesus  as  pleading  with  John  to  baptize  him  in 
Jordan.  He  says  :  "  Immerse  me  in  the  streams  of 
Jordan,  even  as  she  who  bore  me  wrapped  me  in 
the  children's  swaddling  clothes.  Grant  me  thy 
baptism  even  as  the  virgin  granted  me  her  milk. 
Lay  hold  of  this  head  of  mine,  which  the  seraphim 
revere.  With  thy  right  hand  lay  hold  on  this  head, 
that  is  related  to  thyself  in  kinship.  Lay  hold  of 
this  head,  which  nature  has  made  to  be  touched. 
Lay  hold  of  this  head,  which  for  this  very  purpose 
has  been  formed  by  myself  and  my  Father.  Lay 
hold  of  this  head  of  mine,  which,  if  any  one  does 
lay  hold  of  it  in  piety,  will  save  him  from  ever 
suiFering  shipwreck.  Baptize  me,  who  am  destined 
to   baptize   those   who   believe  on  me  with^water, 


WHAT  THE  GREEK  FATHERS  SAY.  113 

and  with  the  Spirit,  and  with  fire;  with  water 
capable  of  washing  away  the  defilement  of  sins ; 
with  the  Spirit,  capable  of  making  the  earthly 
spiritual ;  with  fire,  naturally  fitted  to  consume  the 
thorns  of  transgressions.  On  learning  these  words, 
the  Baptist  directed  his  mind  to  the  object  of  the 
salvation,  and  comprehended  the  mystery  which  he 
had  received,  and  discharged  the  divine  command; 
for  he  was  at  once  pious  and  ready  to  obey,  and 
stretching  forth  slowly  his  right  hand,  which  seemed 
both  to  tremble  and  to  rejoice,  he  baptized  the 
Lord."  (Four  Hom.  Ante-Nic.  Fath.,  vol.  6,  p.  70.) 

Chrysostom,  347,  says:  ^^  To  be  baptized  and 
to  submerge,  then  to  emerge,  is  a  symbol  of  descent 
to  the  grave,  and  of  ascent  from  it.''  (Hom.  40  in 
1  Cor.  i.)  Again  he  says  :  "  We,  as  in  a  sepulcher, 
immersing  our  heads  in  water,  the  old  man  is 
buried,  and  sinking  down,  the  hole  is  covered  at 
once  ;  then  as  we  emerge,  the  new  man  rises  again." 
(Cap.  iii,  Johanis.) 

Dionysius  says:  '^  Properly  the  total  covering  by 
water  is  taken  from  an  image  of  death  and  burial 
out  of  sight."     (Areop.  di  Eccl.  Heir.  c.  2.) 

Basil,  A.  D.  330,  says  :  "  By  the  three  immersions, 
and  by  the  like  number  of  invocations,  the  great 
mystery  of  baptism  is  completed."  (De  Spirtu,  c.  15.) 


114  IMMERSION. 


CHAPTER  XY. 

WHAT  THE  LATIN  FATHERS  SAY. 

rriHE  testimony  of  the  Latin  fathers  is  equally 
as  conclusive  as  that  of  the  Greeks.  I  begin 
with  Tertullian,  A.  D.  150,  the  oldest  of  the  Latin 
fathers.  He  makes  frequent  reference  to  baptism. 
He  says:  "When  entering  the  water,  we  make 
profession  of  the  Christian  faith  in  the  words  of 
its  rule;  we  bear  public  testimony  that  we  have 
renounced  the  devil,  his  pomp  and  his  angels." 
(De  Spec.  ch.  iv.)  Again,  "To  deal,"  says  he, 
"  with  this  matter  briefly,  I  shall  begin  with  bap- 
tism. When  we  are  going  to  enter  the  water,  but 
a  little  before,  in  the  presence  of  the  congregation 
and  under  the  hand  of  the  president,  we  solemnly 
profess  that  we  disown  the  devil,  and  his  pomp  and 
his  angels.  Thereupon  we  are  thrice  immersed, 
making  a  somewhat  ampler  pledge  than  the  Lord 
has  appointed  in  the  Gospel.  Then  we  are  taken 
up  (as  new  born  children)."  (De  Corona  ch.  iii.) 
Against  Marcion,  ch.  xxviii,  he  says:  "He  there- 
fore seals  man,  who  had  never  been  unsealed  in 
respect  of  him ;  washes  man  who  had  never  been 
defiled  so  far  as  he  was  concerned;  and  into  this 


WHAT   THE   LATIN    FATHERS    SAY.  115 

isacrament  of  salvation  wholly  plunges  that  flesh 
^which  is  beyond  the  pale  of  salvation."  On  the 
Eesurrection,  eh.  xlii,  he  says;  "Know  ye  not, 
that  so  many  of  us  as  are  dipped  into  Jesus 
Christ,  are  baptized  into  his  death.  We  are,  there- 
fore, buried  with  him  by  baptism  into  death,  that 
just  as  Christ  was  raised  up  from  the  dead,  even  so 
we  also  should  walk  in  newness  of  life."  Ter- 
tullian  has  also  written  a  treatise  on  baptism.  He 
says,  ch.  iv  :  "  And  accordingly  it  makes  no  differ- 
ence whether  a  man  be  washed  in  a  sea  or  a  pool,  a 
stream  or  a  fount,  a  lake  or  a  trough ;  nor  is  there 
any  distinction  between  those  whom  John  baptized 
in  the  Jordan  and  those  whom  Peter  baptized  in  the 
Tiber,  unless  w^ithal  the  Eunuch  whom  Philip  bap- 
tized in  the  midst  of  his  journeys  with  chance  water, 
derived  (therefrom)  more  or  less  of  salvation  than 
others."  On  Bap.  ch.  xiii,  he  says:  "For  the 
law  of  dipping  has  been  imposed,  and  the  formula 
prescribed  :  Go,  he  saith,  teach  the  nations,  dip- 
ping them  into  the  name  of  the  Father,  and  of 
the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Spirit." 

So  manifestly  does  Tertullian  teach  immersion 
that  Dr.  George  Campbell  does  not  hesitate  to 
etate :  "  The  word  baptizeiny  both  in  sacred  authors, 
and  in  classical,  signifies  to  dip,  to  plunge,  to 
immerse,   and   was   rendered    by    Tertullian,    the 


116  IMMERSION. 

oldest  of  the  Latin  Fathers,  tiugere ;  the  term 
used  for  dyeing  cloth,  which  was  by  immersion." ^ 
(Four  Gos.  vol.  4,  p.  24.)  And  Moses  Stuart 
remarks :  *^  I  do  not  see  how  any  doubt  can  well 
remain,  that  in  Tertullian^s  time  the  practice  of 
the  African  church,  to  say  the  least,  as  to  the 
mode  of  baptism,  must  have  been  that  of  trine 
immersion.'^     On  Bapt.  p.  146.) 

Cyprian,  A.  D.  250,  Epis.  xxiv,  renders  the 
commission :  "  The  Lord,  when  after  his  resurrec- 
tion he  sent  forth  his  apostles,  charges  them 
saying,  all  power  is  given  unto  me  in  heaven  and 
in  earth.  Go  ye,  therefore,  and  teach  all  nations, 
dipping  them  into  the  name  of  the  Father,  and  of 
the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost;  teaching  them 
to  observe  all  things  whatsoever  I  have  com- 
manded you."  And  quoting  Gal.  iii :  27,  Epis. 
75,  he  says :  ^^  For  if  the  apostle  does  not  speak 
falsely  when  he  says.  As  many  of  you  as  are  dip- 
ped into  Christ  have  put  on  Christ,  certainly  he 
who  has  been  baptized  among  them  into  Christ, 
has  put  on  Christ." 

Ambrose,  Bishop  of  Milan,  A.  D.  340,  says: 
"Thou  wast  asked.  Dost  thou  believe  in  God 
the  Father  Almighty.  Thou  saidst,  I  believe, 
and  thus  thou  wast  immersed,  that  is,  wast  buried." 
(Sacram.  Lit.  ii,  c.  7.) 


WHAT   THE   LATIN    FATHERS   SAY.  117 

The  great  Augustine  says :  "  After  you  pro- 
fessed your  belief  three  times,  did  we  submerge 
your  heads  in  the  sacred  fountain/'  (Hom.  iv.) 
**  Rightly,"  says  he,  in  another  place,  "  are  ye 
immersed  three  times,  who  have  received  baptism 

in  the  name  of  Christ For  that  thrice 

repeated    submersion   expresses   a   resemblance  of 
the  Lord's  death." 

Jerome,  A.  D.  331,  says:  "And  thrice  were 
we  immersed,  that  there  may  appear  one  sacrament 
of  the  Trinity."     (Epis.  ad  Eph.   ch.  iv.) 

Alcuin,  A.  D.  735,  to  the  brethren  at  Lyons, 
Epis.  xc,  writes :  "  To  us  it  seems  indeed,  accord- 
ing to  our  feeble  judgment,  that  as  the  inner  man 
is  formed  anew  after  the  image  of  his  Maker,  in 
the  faith  of  the  Holy  Trinity,  so  the  outer  man 
should  be  washed  with  a  trine  immersion  ;  that 
what  the  Spirit  invisibly  works  in  the  soul,  that 
the  priest  may  visibly  imitate  in  water."  In 
describing  the  act  of  baptism  he  says  :  ''  And  so,  in 
the  name  of  the  holy  Trinity,  he  is  baptized  by 
trine  immersion."     (Epis.  xc.  col.  292.) 

There  can  remain  no  question  from  these 
extracts  that  the  early  Latin  fathers  taught  immer- 
sion as  the  act  of  Christian  baptism.  For  the 
first  time,  in  the  writings  of  Tertullian,  we  cross 
trine    immersion.      He    expressly   says,    however. 


118  IMMERSION. 

that  this  "is  somewhat  more  than  the  Lord  pre- 
scribed in  the  Gospel.^'  Jerome  also  states  that 
trine  baptism  is  only  a  matter  of  tradition.  "Many 
of  the  things/'  says  Jerome,  "  which  are  observed 
in  the  churches  by  tradition,  have  usurped  to 
themselves  the  authority  of  the  written  law  (of  the 
Scriptures) ;  such  as  to  immerse  the  head  three 
times  in  the  bath.''  (Advers.  Lucif.  c.  4.)  But  the 
act  of  baptism,  which  is  by  immersion,  remains 
untouched.  The  fathers  are  unanimous  in  favor 
of  dipping. 


I 


TEACHING   OF   THE   APOSTLES.  119 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

THE  TEACHING  OF  THE  TWELVE  APOSTLES." 

N  1884  a  translation  of  this  work  was  given  to 
the  English-speaking  world  by  Archdeacon  Far- 
rar.  It  had  been  discovered  by  Bryennios  in  1873, 
and  an  edition  of  it  printed  by  him  in  1883.  It 
bore  a  very  significant  signature — "  Leon,  Notary 
and  Sinner"— and  the  Greek  date  6564,  which 
equals  1056.  It  at  once  created  the  wildest  en- 
thusiam  among  our  Pedobaptist  friends.  The  Bap- 
tist position  was  certainly  overthrown,  and  our 
position  was  utterly  untenable !  Yet  out  of  this 
very  thing  has  come  a  great  good  to  the  Baptists. 
"  The  Teaching "  has  caused  unlimited  discussion, 
and  every  agitation  of  the  baptismal  question  is 
to  our  advantage.  We  have  every  thing  to  gain 
when  this  subject  is  stirred.  After  seven  years  the 
sweep  of  scholarship  is  all  toward  immersion,  and 
we  are  more  firmly  implanted  in  our  position  than 
ever  before. 

The  famous  chapter  that  was  relied  on  to  do  such 
wonderful  things  is  f9und  in  the  Constantinople  edi- 
tion, pp.  27-29,  and  is  translated  by  Dr.  Schaff  as 
follows  :   "  Now  concerning  baptism,  baptize  thus : 


120  IMMERSION. 

Having  first  taught  all  these  things,  baptize  ye  in 
the  name  of  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the 
Holy  Ghost,  in  living  water.  And  if  thou  hast  not 
living  water,  baptize  in  other  water ;  and  if  thou 
canst  not  in  cold,  then  in  warm  (water).  But  if 
thou  hast  neither,  pour  (water)  thrice  upon  the 
head  in  the  name  of  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son, 
and  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  But  before  baptism  let 
the  baptizer  and  the  baptized  fast,  and  any  others 
who  can ;  but  thou  shalt  command  the  baptizer  to 
fast  for  one  or  two  days  before." 

I  will  make  several  interesting  observations : 

1.  This  is  undoubtedly  a  very  great  variation 
from  the  teaching  of  the  New  Testament ;  and  it 
matters  not  what  this  book  says,  the  New  Testa- 
ment is  the  standard  of  authority.  The  New  Tes- 
tament nowhere  calls  baptism  ekcheo,  to  pour;  it 
is  always  baptizo,  to  dip.  This  alone  stamps  this 
book  of  late  origin. 

2.  Immersion  is  plainly  preferred,  and  pouring 
is  only  allowed  in  the  extreme  cases,  and  that 
must  be  performed  three  times.  As  Dr.  Schaif  re- 
marks :  ^'  The  preference  of  the  ante-Nicene  church 
was  for  baptism  in  a  running  stream,  as  the  Jor- 
dan, the  Nile,  the  Tiber.''     (Teaching,  p.  185.) 

3.  Fasting  is  as  fully  and  emphatically  taught 
as  is  pouring;  indeed  the  injunction  is  absolute. 


TEACHING    OF   THE   APOSTLES.  121 

4.  There  are  some  other  very  fatal  objections 
to  pedobaptism  in  this  book :  (1.)  Infant  baptism 
is  left  out  of  the  "  Teaching."  In  trying  to  over- 
throw immersion,  infant  baptism  is  destroyed.  In- 
struction is  positively  enjoined  before  baptism,  and 
this  forever  excludes  infant  baptism.  Dr.  SchaiF 
admits  that  *'  infant  baptism  is  not  contemplated  in 
the  Didache."  (2.)  This  book  teachcss  the  Baptist 
doctrine  of  close  communion.  No  one  but  bap- 
tized persons  must  come  to  the  table  of  the  Lord. 
Chapter  ix  commands  that,  "Let  no  one  eat  or 
drink  of  the  Eucharist  except  those  baptized  into 
the  name  of  the  Lord."  Our  Presbyterian  brother, 
Dr.  Schaff,  is  still  giving  us  good  testimony.  He 
says:  "The  communion  is  for  baptized  believers, 
and  for  them  only.  Baptism  is  the  sacramental 
sign  and  seal  of  regeneration  and  conversion;  the 
Lord's  Supper  is  the  sacrament  of  sanctification 
and  growth  in  spiritual  grace.  .  .  .  Hence  the 
Apostolic  Constitutions  lay  great  stress  on  the  ex- 
clusion of  unbelievers  from  the  Eucharist."  (Teach- 
ing, p.  193.)  (3.)  The  Teaching  is  also  fatal  to  the 
doctrine  of  Episcopacy,  for  only  two  classes  of  offi- 
cers are  recognized — Bishops  and  Deacons.  These 
are  to  be  elected  by  the  people.  The  Greek  verb 
means,  in  classical  writers,  to  stretch  out  the  hand, 
or  to  vote  by  show  of  hands ;  then  to  elect.    This 


122  IMMERSION. 

is  rather  a  discouraging  view  of  the  matter  to  our 
Pedobaptist  friends. 

5.  The  book  is  full  of  all  kinds  of  childish 
twaddle.  The  truth  is  that  it  is  supremely  silly 
in  many  places.  Concerning  the  character  of  the 
work,  Bishop  Cleveland  Coxe  in  his  prefatory  note 
says :  "  Even  Lactantius,  in  his  Institutes,  shapes 
his  instructions  to  Constantine  by  the  Dua  Via, 
which  seemed  to  have  been  formulated  in  the  ear- 
liest ages  for  the  training  of  catechumens.  The 
elementary  nature  and  ^  the  childishness'  of  the 
work  are  thus  accounted  for,  and  I  am  sure  that 
the  ^  Mystagogic '  teaching  of  Cyril  receives  light 
from  this  view  of  th^  matter.  This  work  was  food 
for  '  lambs ' ;  it  was  not  meant  to  meet  the  wants 
of  those  ^of  full  age.'  It  may  prove,  as  Dr.  Riddle 
hints,  that  the  Teaching,  as  we  have  it  in  the  Bry- 
ennios  document,  is  tainted  by  the  views  of  some 
nascent  sect  or  heresy,  or  by  the  incompetency 
of  some  obscure  local  church  as  yet  unvisited  by 
learned  teachers  and  evangelists.  It  seems  to  me 
not  improbably  influenced  by  views  of  the  charis- 
mata,  which  ripened  into  Montanism,  and  which 
are  illustrated  by  the  warnings  and  admonitions  of 
Hermas."    (Ante-Nicene  Fathers,  vol.  7,  p.  171.) 

Those  who  wish  to  follow  this  mixture  of  fool- 


TEACHING   OF   THE   APOSTLES.  123 

ishness  and  heresy  can  do  so,  but  I  prefer  the  word 
of  the  living  God  as  my  counselor. 

6.  The  morality  of  the  book  is  positively  shock- 
ing. The  very  first  chapter  teaches  that  if  a  man 
is  in  need  and  steals  it  is  all  right.  Hear  it :  "  Woe 
to  him  that  taketh  ;  for  if  one  that  is  in  need  taketh, 
he  shall  be  guiltless;  but  he  that  is  not  in  need 
shall  give  account  whereof  he  took  and  whereunto  ; 
and  being  in  durance  shall  be  questioned  touch- 
ing what  he  did,  and  he  shall  not  go  out  thence 
until  he  give  back  the  last  farthing.''  I  am  very 
glad  we  do  not  have  to  defend  immersion  with 
such  stuff  as  this. 

7.  The  truth  is  that  no  two  WTiters  agree  in  regard 
to  scarcely  any  particulars  concerning  this  book. 
There  are  the  wildest  and  most  absurd  contradic- 
tions in  regard  to  the  writer,  the  time  it  was  writ- 
ien,  the  country,  and  almost  every  detail  connected 
with  the  work.  Prof  Harnack,  who  first  announced 
this  book  to  the  Western  World,  and  who  has 
studied  it  more  closely  than  any  other,  has  fur- 
nished a  series  of  articles  for  the  Theologische  Lite- 
raturzeitung.  What  w^e  give  below  was  published 
June,  12th,  1886,  and  republished  in  the  New 
York  Independent  Aug.  26th,  1886.  It  put  to- 
gether, without  comment,  the  conflicting  opinions 
that  are  held  in  regard  to  it.     Dr.  Harnack  says : 


124  IMMERSION. 

"One  investigator  puts  the  newly  discovered 
writing  before  the  Pauline  letters,  or  even  before 
the  council  of  the  apostles  (Sabatier) ;  the  second, 
in  the  time  of  Paul;  the  third,  soon  after  the 
destruction  of  Jerusalem  (Bestinann) ;  the  fourth, 
in  the  last  decades  of  the  first  century  (an  idea  that 
finds- very  much  favor);  the  fifth,  in  the  days  of 
Trajan  (also  a  favorite  idea)  ;  the  sixth,  in  the  days 
of  Barcochba ;  the  seventh,  in  the  time  of  Antonines ; 
the  eighth,  about  the  time  of  Commodus ;  the  ninth, 
in  the  third  century  ;  the  tenth,  in  the  fourth 
century;  and  there  are  some  who  favor  the  fifth 
or  a  later  century.  So  much  in  reference  to  the 
time  of  composition. 

"  In  other  points  matters  stand  no  better.  On 
the  history  of  its  transmission  one  says  that  it  is 
the  book  known  to  the  Fathers  from  the  days  of 
Clement ;  others  deny  this ;  a  third  party  seeks  a 
middle  path  in  regard  to  the  integrity  of  the  book  ; 
some  say  the  book  is  from  one  author,  and  orig- 
inal; others  that  it  is  a  compilation,  and  is  crowded 
with  interpolations ;  that  it  consists  of  two  or  more 
parts  that  originally  did  not  belong  together.  In 
regard  to  the  character  of  the  book,  some  claim 
that  it  is  well  arranged,  others  that  it  is  poorly  ar- 
ranged; some  that  in  parts  it  is  well  arranged, 
and  in  parts  poorly  arranged ;  some  that  the  skill 


TEACHING   OF   THE    APOSTLES.  125 

of  the  author  must  be  admired ;  others  that  the 
author  has  no  idea  of  the  literary  arts. 

"  With  regard  to  the  sources,  some  say  that  only 
the  old  Testament  served  as  a  source,  and  that  all 
the  rest  is  original,  because  older  than  all  other 
Christian  writings ;  others  say  that  there  is  nothing 
original  in  the  book,  but  the  whole  is  taken  from 
other  sources;  some  that  the  new  Testament  re- 
ceives no  witness  from  the  Didache;  others  that 
nearly  all  the  New  Testament  books  are  used  in 
it,  and  that  the  book  itself  thereby  seems  the  best 
proof  of  its  antiquity ;  some  that  Barnabas  and 
Hermas  are  used;  others  that  Barnabas  is  used, 
but  that  Hermas  in  turn  used  the  'Didache'; 
others,  on  the  other  hand,  that  Hermas  was  used, 
and  that  Barnabas  is  a  later  production;  others 
that  Philo,  the  Sybiline  books,  and  the  Gentile 
moralists  were  used  ;  others  that  in  primitive  apos- 
tolic simplicity  the  author  has  reproduced  only  the 
pure  Gospel. 

*'  In  regard  to  the  standpoint  of  the  author,  some 
claim  that  it  is  primitive-apostolic  from  the  view 
of  the  Jewish  Christians ;  others,  that  it  is  post- 
apostolic  and  Jewish-Christian;  others,  anti-Paul- 
ine; others,  that  it  is  strongly  influenced  by  Paul; 
others,  that  it  is  Saddusaic;  others,  vulgar,  hea- 
thenish ;  others,  dangerously  Ebionitic ;  others,  Mar- 


126  IMMERSION. 

cionitic  ;  others_,  Montanir^tlc  ;  others,  Theodosian; 
others,  quite  moralizing;  others,  eneratistic ;  oth- 
ers, thoroughly  Byzantine,  but  under  a  transparent 
mask;  others,  that  the  standpoint  can  not  be  discov- 
ered, since  the  author  has  not  treated  of  his  faith ; 
others,  classically  evangelical. 

"  With  regard  to  the  importance  of  the  book,  some 
say  that  it  is  the  most  important  discovery  of  the 
century,  and  should  be  received  into  the  canon  of 
the  New  Testament;  that  it  is  the  whole  Bible  in 
mice;  that  it  solves  the  greatest  problems;  that  it 
is  peculiar,  and  should  be  used  with  care;  that  it 
shows  the  average  Christianity;  that  as  a  compi- 
lation it  can  not  be  used  in  picturing  any  period ; 
that  it  shows  poverty  of  contents ;  the  Christianity 
of  the  author  can  only  be  lamented ;  that  it  is  ra- 
tionalistic and  flat,  but  nevertheless  interesting; 
that  it  is  a  miserable  production,  without  any  im- 
portance for  those  of  our  times ;  the  book  is  char- 
acteristic only  of  the  Byzantine  forger.  Places 
assigned  for  the  writing:  Egypt,  Greece,  Syria, 
Jerusalem,  Rome,  Asia  Minor,  Constantinople. 

"  Then  some  regard  it  as  setting  forth  the  apos- 
tolic, the  Presbyterian,  the  Episcopal,  or  no  system 
of  church  government  whatever.  It  is  considered 
of  great  value  because  it  favors  the  Protestant,  or 
the  Catholic,  or  the  Baptist,  or  the  anti-Baptist,  or 


TEACHING    OF   THE    APOSTLES.  127 

the  Chiliastic,  or  the  anti-Chiliastic,  or  the  Irving- 
ian,  or  some  other  church  party;  because  it  is  still 
apostolic  and  anti-Catholic  and  at  the  same  time 
Catholic;  because  its  prophets  are  still  apostles  of 
the  real  primitive  Christianity;  others,  then,  claim 
that  they  are  new  prophets,  or  no  prophets  at  all, 
but  rather  inventive  swindlers  and  parasites ;  oth- 
ers, that  they  are  no  swindlers,  but  homunculi  pro- 
duced by  a  forger." 

I  have  given  this  full  discussion  of  this  work  on 
account  of  the  prominence  given  to  the  Teaching 
in  so  many  quarters.  It  will  easily  be  seen  that 
scholars  must  come  nearer  to  an  agreement  before 
the  work  can  be  seriously  quoted  as  an  authority. 
Granting  the  extremest  position  of  our  opponents, 
we  gain  by  the  book  quite  as  much  as  we  lose. 
The  truth  is  that  the  part  that  may  appear  to  favor 
the  Pedobaptists  is  really  the  part  that  is  directly 
against  the  teaching  of  the  New  Testament. 


128  IMMERSION. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

ARGUMENT  FROM  HISTORY  IN  FAVOR  OF 
IMMERSION. 

A  LL  standard  historians,  regardless  of  denomi- 
-^-^  nation,  assert  that  immersion  was  the  primi- 
tive act  of  baptism.  Time  would  fail  me  to  give 
them  all,  for  their  name  is  legion.  I  will  content 
myself,  therefore,  by  making  such  selections  as  I 
may  deem  best. 

As  the  first  authority  I  will  give  Dr.  Arthur  P. 
Stanley,  a  late  dignitary  of  the  Church  of  England. 
He  was  the  son  of  a  bishop.  He  was  for  seven 
years  Professor  of  Ecclesiastical  History  in  Oxford 
University.  He  is  the  author  of  several  works  of 
high  critical  value,  and  stood  at  the  head  of  En- 
glish scholars.  His  last  position  was  Lord  Rector 
of  St.  Andrew's  and  Dean  of  Westminster  Abbey. 
He  says  of  baptism :  "Into  this  society  they  passed 
by  an  act  as  natural  as  it  was  expressive.  The 
plunge  into  the  bath  of  purification,  long  known 
among  the  Jewish  nation  as  the  symbol  of  a  change 
of  life,  had  been  revived  with  a  fresh  energy  by 
the  Essencs,  and  it  received  a  definite  significa- 
tion and  impulse  from  the  austere  prophet  who  de- 


ARGUMENT    FROM    HISTORY.  129 

rived  his  name  from  the  ordinance.  This  rite  was 
retained  as  the  pledge  of  entrance  into  a  new  and 
universal  communion.  In  that  early  age  the  scene 
of  the  transaction  was  either  some  deep  wayside 
spring  or  well,  as  for  the  Ethiopian,  or  some  rush- 
ing river,  as  the  Jordan,  or  some  vast  reservoir,  as 
at  Jericho  or  Jerusalem,  whither,  as  in  the  baths  of 
Caracalla  at  Rome,  the  whole  population  resorted 
for  swimming  or  washing.  The  earliest  scene  of 
the  immersion  was  in  the  Jordan.  That  rushing 
river — the  one  river  of  Palestine — found  at  last 
its  fit  purpose."    (Christian  Institutions,  p.  2.) 

Dr.  Adolf  Harnack,  of  Giessen,  the  foreuiost 
living  German  Church  historian,  in  reply  to  some 
questions  of  C.  E.  W.  Dobbs,  D.  D.,  made  the 
following  statement  on  "the  present  state  of 
opinion  among  German  scholars,"  concerning  the 
ancient  act  of  baptism : 

GlESSEN,  Jan.  16th,  1885. 

C.  E.  W.  Dobbs,  D.  D.: 

Dear  Sir, — Referring  to  your  three  inquiries,  I 
have  the  honor  to  reply : 

1st.  Baptism  undoubtedly  signifies  immersion, 
(elntauchen.) 

2d.  No  proof  can  be  found  that  it  signifies  any 
thing  else  in  the  New  Testament,  and  in  the  most 

9 


130  IMMERSION. 

ancient  Christian  literature.  The  suggestion  re- 
garding "  a  sacred  sense,"  is  out  of  the  question. 
3d.  There  is  no  passage  in  the  New  Testament 
which  suggests  the  supposition  that  any  New  Tes- 
tament author  attached  to  the  word  baptizein  any 
other  sense  them  eintauche7i=untertauchen.''  (Schaffs 
Teach,  of  the  Twelve,  p.  50.) 

Dr.  Joseph  Langen,  Old  Catholic  Professor  in 
Bonn,  Germany,  in  a  letter  to  myself,  in  April,  of 
this  year,  says  :  "  In  reply  to  your  pleasing  letter 
of  March  13th,  I  have  to  say  the  following ; 

"  1.  The  meaning  of  the  word  baptizein  is  to 
dip  under. 

"  2.  The  authors  of  the  New  Testament  have 
never  used  th^word  in  any  other  sense. 

"  3.  In  Western  countries  not  till  after  the 
eleventh  century,  after  the  separation  from  the 
East,  was  pouring  on  the  head  generally  established 
in  the  place  of  dipping  under." 

Dr.  Philip  Schaff,  the  eminent  Presbyterian 
scholar  and  historian,  of  New  York,  says  :  ^'  The 
usual  form  of  baptism  was  by  immersion.  This  is 
inferred  from  the  original  of  the  Greek  baptizein 
and  baptismos;  from  the  analogy  of  John's  bap- 
tism in  the  Jordan;  from  the  apostle's  comparison 
of  the  sacred  rite  with  the  miraculous  passage  of 


ARGUMENT    FROM    HISTORY.  131 

the  Red  Sea,  and  the  escape  of  the  ark  from  the 
flood,  with  a  cleansing  and  refreshing  bath,  and 
with  burial  and  resurrection;  finally,  from  the 
general  custom  of  the  ancient  church,  which  pre- 
vails in  the  East  to  this  day."  (Christ.  Ch.,  vol.  1, 
pp.  468,  469.) 

Homersham  Cox,  a  very  learned  English  judge, 
says  in  his  recent  book.  The  First  Century  of 
Christianity  :  ^'  The  Jews  baptized  by  immersion, 
and  this  was  undoubtedly  the  form  of  the  Chris- 
tian institution  originally,  though  subsequently 
baptism  by  affusion  was  allowed.  Even  so  late 
as  the  age  of  Cyprian  (the  third  century)  this 
method,  though  tolerated,  was  not  the  most 
usual."     (p.  227.) 

George  P.  Fisher,  Professor  of  Ecclesiastical 
History  in  Yale  University,  says:  "Baptism,  it 
is  now  generally  agreed  among  scholars,  was  com- 
monly by  immersion."     (Begin.  Christ,  p.  565.) 

Prof.  L.  L.  Paine,  D.  D.,  of  the  Bangor  Theo- 
logical Seminary,  some  time  since  surprised  some 
of  his  friends  by  teaching  that  immersion  was  bap- 
tism, and  he  wrote  the  following  in  his  own  justi- 
fication:  "It  may  be  honestly  asked  by  some, 
Was  immersion  the  primitive  form  of  baptism, 
and,  if  so,  what  then  ?  As  to  the  question  of  fact, 
the  testimony  is  ample  and  decisive.     No  matter 


132  IMMERSION. 

of  Church  history  i>s  clearer.  The  evidence  is  all 
one  way,  and  all  church  historians  of  any  repute 
agree  in  accepting  it.  We  can  not  even  claim 
originality  in  teaching  it  in  a  Congregational  Sem- 
inary. And  we  really  feel  guilty  of  a  kind  of 
anachronism  in  writing  an  article  to  insist  upon  it. 
It  is  a  point  on  which  ancient,  mediaeval  and  mod- 
ern historians  alike,  Catholic  and  Protestant, 
Lutheran  and  Calvinist,  have  no  controversy.  And 
the  simple  reason  for  this  unanimity,  is  that  the 
statements  of  the  early  fathers  are  so  clear,  and 
the  light  shed  upon  their  statements  from  the  early 
customs  of  the  church,  is  so  conclusive,  that  no 
historian  who  cares  for  his  reputation  would  dare 
to  deny  it,  and  no  historian  who  is  worthy  of  the 
name  would  wish  to.  There  are  some  historical 
questions  concerning  the  early  church,  on  which 
the  most  learned  writers  disagree — for  example 
the  question  of  infant  baptism ;  but  on  this  one  of 
the  early  practice  of  immersion,  the  most  distin- 
guished antiquarians,  such  as  Bingham,  Augusti, 
Coleman,  Smith,  and  historians  such  as  Mosheim, 
Gieseler,  Hase,  Milman,  Schaff,  Alzog  (Catholic) 
hold  a  common  language." 

What  is  more,  scholars  of  the  highest  repute  state 
that  immersion  was  the  common  act  of  baptism  for 
thirteen  hundred   years.      This   is    a   very   strong 


ARGUMENT   FROM    HISTORY.  133 

point,  and  I  will  let  the  scholars  speak  for  them- 
selves. 

Dr.  H.  Holtzmann,  Professor  in  Strasburg  Uni- 
versity, writes  me  April  4th,  1890:  "The  meaning 
of  the  word  baptizein,  as  of  the  simple  baptein,  is  to 
*  dip  in,  to  dip  under.'  At  a  later  date,  instead  of 
immersion,  aspersion  occurs  in  the  cases  of  sick- 
ness, and  was  called  clinic  baptism.  Aspersion  be-* 
came  only  more  common  in  consequence  of  the 
Ijaptism  of  children,  and  never  obtained  a  mean- 
ing similar  to  immersion  until  after  the  thirteenth 
century." 

Dr.  Hilgenfeld,  Professor  in  the  University  of 
Jena,  writes  me :  "  Only  in  the  Western  Church, 
and  after  the  thirteenth  century,  did  sprinkling 
come  in  as  the  usual  mode  of  baptism,  so  that  it 
became  the  general  custom  in  the  fourteenth  cent- 
ury. The  baptism  by  immersion,  however,  is  still 
preserved  by  the  Greek  Catholic  Church." 

Prof.  Gaston  Bonet-Maury,  Professor  in  the  Prot- 
estant Theological  Faculty  of  Paris,  writes :  "  The 
literal  meaning  of  the  Greek  word  bcqAizein  is  to 
plunge,  to  immerse,  to  dip.  Baptism  by  immer- 
sion is  still  practiced  by  all  the  orthodox  Greek 
churches  of  the  East.  This  form  was  practiced  in 
the  West  until  the  close  of  the  thirteenth  century. 
But  at  the  close  of  the  thirteenth  century,  baptism 


134  IMMERSION. 

by  aspersion  prevailed  definitely  for  the  baptism 
of  children.  In  1311  the  Council  of  Ravenna  al- 
lowed free  choice  between  immersion  and  aspersion. 
Thomas  Aquinas  declares  the  two  forms  equally 
legitimate.  Baptism  by  immersion  has  been  pre- 
served until  the  present  time  in  the  cathedral  of 
Milan.  In  the  sixteenth  century  Edward  VI.  and 
Queen  Elizabeth  were  baptized  by  immersion,  and 
the  English  liturgy  of  baptism  enjoined  immersion 
for  the  public  baptism  of  little  children.  Since  the 
beginning  of  the  seventeenth  century  this  form  has 
been  very  rare  in  the  non-Baptist  churches.^' 

Dr.  Philip  Schaff,  Presbyterian,  says  :  ^^  Pouring 
and  sprinkling  were  still  exceptional  in  the  ninth 
century,  according  to  Walafrid  Strabo  (De  Eel. 
Eccl.  c.  26) ;  but  they  made  gradual  progress,  with 
the  spread  of  infant  baptism,  as  the  most  convenient 
mode,  especially  in  northern  climates,  and  came  into 
common  use  in  the  West  at  the  end  of  the  thirteenth 
century. '' 

Dollinger,  the  eminent  Catholic  author  who  so 
recently  died  at  Bonn,  says  in  his  History :  "  Bap- 
tism by  immersion  continued  to  be  the  prevailing 
practice  of  the  Church  as  late  as  the  fourteenth 
century.'^     (Hist.  Ch.  vol.  2,  p.  294.) 

Dean  Stanley  says  :  "  For  the  first  thirteen  cent- 
uries the  almost  universal  practice  of  baptism  was 


ARGUMENT   FEOM    HISTORY.  135 

that  of  which  we  read  in  the  New  Testament,  and 
which  is  the  very  meaning  of  the  word  '  baptize ' — 
that  those  who  were  baptized  were  plunged,  sub- 
merged, immersed  into  the  water.  That  practice 
is  still,  as  we  have  seen,  continued  in  Eastern 
churches."     (Chris.  Ins.  p.  17.) 

Dr.  Funk,  of  Tubingen  University,  writes  that, 
"  In  the  thirteenth  century  the  practice  of  pouring 
began  considerably  to  prevail ;  and  in  some  places 
(as  in  France)  somewhat  earlier  than  this." 

Here  are  seven  witnesses — and  many  more  might 
be  given — all  testifying  that  immersion  was  the 
common  practice  for  thirteen  hundred  years.  They 
say  it  was  the  universal  practice,  save  those  who 
Avere  baptized  upon  their  sick-bed.  Could  I  want 
stronger  testimony  to  the  primitive  rite?  These 
men  are  Presbyterians,  Catholics,  and  Episcopali- 
ans, and  are  not  prejudiced  toward  the  Baptists. 
The  testimony  is  sure,  and  our  position  remains 
tenable.  The  voice  of  history  is  fully  on  our  side, 
and  all  antiquity  says  that  the  ancient  act  of  bap- 
tism was  an  immersion  in  water. 


136  IMMERSION. 


CHAPTER  XVllI. 

SPRINKLING  A  HEATHEN  CUSTOM. 

nnHE  practice  of  sprinkling,  for  baptism,  is  of 
pagan  origin.  In  the  days  of  the  apostles 
corrupt  practices  began  to  creep  into  the  churches. 
In  the  course  of  time,  as  the  Roman  Catholic 
Church  began  to  extend  its  borders,  thousands  of 
baptized,  but  unconverted  heathen,  were  received 
into  her  communion.  These  persons  assumed  the 
name  of  Christians,  but  brought  along  with  them 
their  corrupt  and  abominable  practices.  They 
changed  their  name,  but  not  their  rites  and  cer- 
emonies. One  of  the  doctrines  they  brought  with 
them  was  that  of  baptismal  salvation.  This  has 
been  the  bane  of  pure  Christianity.  But  along 
with  this  came  the  attendant  evils  of  sprinkling 
and  infant  baptism.  The  heathens  worshiped  the 
river  as  a  god,  and  believed  that  a  bath  in  its 
waters,  or  its  sacred  water  poured  or  sprinkled 
upon  themselves,  would  bring  everlasting  life.  It 
was  a  matter  of  indiiference  to  them  how  the 
water  should  be  applied. 

With  the  corruptions  of  Christianity  this    idea 
began  to  prevail  among  the  thousands  Avho  came 


SPRINKLING  A    HEATHEN    CUSTOM.  137 

from  the  heathen.  The  argument  was  to  them 
complete  and  convincing:  If  water  baptism  saved 
a  man,  and  this  many  of  the  fathers  most  ardently 
believed,  it  was  very  necessary  that  a  man  should 
not  die  without  the  "  laver  of  regeneration."  But 
as  it  is  not  always  convenient  to  dip  a  man  who 
was  at  the  point  of  death,  copious  pouring  was 
resorted  to  as  in  the  case  of  Novatian;  and  from 
this  confessed  innovation,  sprinkling  has  become 
the  general  practice  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church, 
and  of  those  churches  which  have  been  connected 
w^ith  it.  The  same  matter  of  convenience  and  sal- 
vation applied  to  infants,  and  so  it  became  cus- 
tomary to  sprinkle  them  in  case  they  were  weak, 
and  from  that  came  the  prevailing  custom  of  infant 
sprinkling.  If  there  was  no  such  doctrine  as  bap- 
tismal salvation,  infant  baptism  Avould  die  a  nat- 
ural death,  and  sprinkling  would  never  have  been 
a  custom  in  the  Christian  world. 

But  I  will  make  good  these  statements  that  bap- 
tismal salvation  and  aifusion  are  of  heathen  origin, 
and  have  been  engrafted  as  a  custom  upon  the 
Christian  religion.  These  propositions  will  more 
fully  appear  from  the  unimpeachable  authorities 
that  I  present.  I  wish  especially  to  acknowledge 
my    indebtedness  to  a  very   able    editorial   which 


138  IMMERSION. 

appeared  in  the  January  number,  1891,  of  the 
Outlooh. 

The  pagans  were  accustomed  to  worship  the  sun, 
rivers  and  fountains,  and  sometimes  their  rites 
were  a  combination  of  ceremonies  to  these.  It  is 
in  this  way  that  Virgil  writes : 

^^He  started  up,  and  viewing  the  rising  beams 
of  the  ethereal  sun,  in  his  hollow  palms,  with 
pious  form,  he  raised  water  from  the  river,  and 
poured  forth  to  heaven  these  words:  Ye  nymphs, 
ye  Laurentine  nymphs,  whence  rivers  have  their 
origin ;  and  thou,  O  Father  Tiber,  with  thy  sacred 
river;  receive  ^neas  and  defend  him  at  length 
from  dangers.  In  whatever  source  thy  lake  con- 
tains thee,  compassionate  to  our  misfortunes,  from 
whatever  soil  thou  springest  forth  most  beauteous, 
horn-bearing  river,  monarch  of  the  Italian  streams, 
ever  shalt  thou  be  honored  with  my  veneration, 
ever  with  my  offerings.  O  grant  us  thy  present 
aid,  and  by  nearer  aid  confirm  thy  divine  oracles." 
(^neid,  b.  8,  1.  70-82.) 

Ovid,  describing  the  feast  of  Pales,  held  in  May, 
exhibits  the  same  combination  of  sun  and  water 
worship  : 

"Often  in  truth  have  I  leaped  over  the  fires 
placed  in  three  rows,  and  the  dripping  bough  of 
laurel  has  flung   the    sprinkled    waters.     . 


SPRINKLING   A   HEATHEN   CUSTOM.  139 

Shepherd,  purify  the  full  sheep  at  the  beginning  of 
twilight,  let  the  water  first  sprinkle  them,  and  let 
the  broom  made  of  twigs  sweep  the  ground.  .  .  . 
Protect  thou  alike  the  cattle,  and  let  all  harm  fly 
away,  repelled  from  my  stalls.  Let  that  happen 
which  I  pray  for,  and  may  we  at  the  close  of  the 
year,  offer  cakes  of  good  size  to  Pales,  the  mistress 
of  the  shepherds.  With  these  words  must  the 
goddess  be  propitiated;  turning  to  the  East,  do 
you  repeat  these  words  three  times,  and  in  the 
running  stream  thoroughly  wash  your  hands." 
(Fasti,  bk.  4,  1.  728-779.) 

In  another  place  Ovid  tells  us  of  Deucalion  and 
Phyrra,  resolving  to  seek  the  sacred  oracles,  in 
prayer,  at  the  temple  of  the  goddess  Themis ;  he 
says : 

"  There  is  no  delay ;  together  they  repair  to  the 
waters  of  Cephsius,  though  not  clear,  yet  now 
cutting  their  wonted  channel.  Then  when  they 
had  sprinkled  the  waters  poured  on  their  clothes 
and  their  heads,  they  turn  their  steps  to  the  tem- 
ple of  the  sacred  goddess,  the  roof  of  which  was 
defiled  with  foul  moss,  and  whose  altars  were 
standing  without  fires.''  (Metamorphoses,  bk.  1, 
fable  10,  lines  651,  &c.) 

Sir  Monier-Williams,  describing  water  worship, 
and  one  of  the  temples  in  India,  says : 


140  IMMERSION. 

"  Thither,  therefore,  a  constant  throng  of  wor- 
shippers continually  resort,  bringing  with  them 
offerings  of  flowers,  rice  and  other  grains,  which 
they  throw  into  the  water  thirty  or  forty  feet  below 
the  ground.  A  Brahman  is  perpetually  employed 
in  drawing  up  the  putrid  liquid,  the  smell,  or 
rather  stench  of  which,  from  incessant  admixture 
of  decaying  floAvers  and  of  vegetable  matter,  making 
the  neighborhood  almost  unbearable.  This  he  pours 
with  a  ladel  into  the  hands  of  the  expectant  crowd, 
who  either  drink  it  with  avidity,  or  sprinkle  it 
reverentially  over  their  persons.  A  still  more 
sacred  well  called  the  Manikarnika,  situated  on 
one  of  the  chief  Ghats  leading  to  the  Ganges,  owes 
its  origin,  in  popular  belief,  to  the  fortunate  cir- 
cumtance  that  one  of  Siva's  ear-rings  happened  to 
fall  on  the  spot.  This  well  is  near  to  the  surface 
and  quite  exposed  to  view.  It  forms  a  small 
quadrangular  pool,  not  more  than  three  feet  deep. 
Four  flights  of  steps  on  the  four  sides  lead  to  the 
water,  the  disgusting  foulness  of  which,  in  the 
estimation  of  countless  pilgrims,  vastly  enhances 
its  efficacy  for  the  removal  of  sin.  The  most 
abandoned  criminals  journey  from  the  most  distant 
parts  of  India  to  the  margin  of  this  sacred  pool. 
There  they  secure  the  services  of  Brahmins,  ap- 
pointed  to   the   duty,    and  descending  with  them 


SPRINKLING    A    HEATHEN    CUSTOM.  141 

into  the  water,  are  made  to  repeat  certain  texts  and 
mutter  certain  mystic  formulae,  the  meaning  of 
which  they  are  wholly  unable  to  understand.  Then, 
while  in  the  act  of  repeating  the  words  put  into 
their  mouths,  they  eagerly  immerse  their  entire 
persons  beneath  the  offensive  liquid.  The  long 
looked  for  dip  over,  a  miraculous  transformation 
is  the  result;  for  the  foul  water  has  cleansed  the 
gtill  fouler  soul.  Few  Hindus  venture  to  doubt 
that  the  most  depraved  sinner  in  existence  may 
thus  be  converted  into  an  immaculate  saint,  worthy 
of  being  translated  at  once  to  the  highest  heavens 
of  the  God  of  Benares."  (Brahminism  and  Hindu- 
ism by  Sir  Monier-Williams,  M.  A.,  D.  C.  L.,  Lon- 
don 1887.) 

In  a  still  later  work,  Sir  William  describes  the 
present  baptismal  custom  in  Thibet  and  Mongolia, 
as  follows: 

"It  is  noticeable  that  a  kind  of  infant  baptism 
is  practiced  in  Thibet  and  Mongolia.  It  is  usual 
to  sprinkle  children  with  consecrated  water,  or  to 
immerse  them  entirely  on  the  third  or  tenth  day 
after  birth.  This  is  called  khrus-sol  (according  to 
Jaschke).  The  priest  consecrates  the  water  by  re- 
citing some  formula,  while  candles  and  incense  are 
burning.  He  then  dips  the  child  three  times,  bless- 
es it,  and  gives  it  a   name.     After  performing  the 


142  IMMERSION. 

ceremony  he  draws  up  the  infant's  horoscope.  Then 
as  soon  as  the  child  can  walk  and  talk,  a  second 
ceremony  takes  place,  and  prayers  are  said  for  its 
happy  life,  and  an  amulet  or  little  bag  is  hung 
around  its  neck,  filled  with  spells  and  charms  against 
evil  spirits  and  diseases."     (Buddhism,  etc.) 

Alabaster  also  says : 

"  Baptism  was  a  religious  rite  from  very  ancient 
times,  the  Brahmins  holding  that  if  any  one  who 
had  sinned  went  to  the  banks  of  the  Ganges  and 
saying,  ^  I  will  not  sin  again,'  plunged  into  the 
stream,  he  would  rise  to  surface  free  of  sin,  all  his 
floating  away.  Sometimes  when  any  one  was  sick 
unto  death,  his  relatives  would  place  him  by  the 
river,  and  give  him  water  to  drink,  and  pour 
water  over  him  till  he  died,  believing  that  he  would 
thus  die  holy  and  go  to  heaven.''  (Buddhism,  pp. 
30,  31.) 

Mallet  says  of  baptism  in  Scandinavia : 

"It  was  no  less  remarkable  that  a  kind  of  in- 
fant baptism  was  practiced  in  the  North,  long  before 
the  dawning  of  Christianity,  and  had  reached  those 
parts.  Snorri  Sturlason,  in  his  chronicle,  speaking 
of  a  Norwegian  noble  who  lived  in  the  reign  of 
Harold  Harfragra,  relates  that  he  poured  water  on 
the  head  of  a  new  born  child,  and  called  him 
Hakon,  from  the  name  of  his  father.     Harald  him- 


SPKINKLING    A    HEATHEN    CUSTOM.  143 

self  had  been  bapti2sed  in  the  same  manner,  and  it 
is  noted  of  King  Olaf  Tryggvason,  that  his  mother 
Astrida  had  him  thus  baptized  and  named  as  soon 
as  he  was  born.  The  Livonians  observed  the  same 
ceremony,  which  also  prevailed  among  the  Germans, 
as  appears  from  a  letter  which  the  famous  Pope 
Gregory  the  Third  sent  to  their  Apostle  Boniface, 
directing  expressly  how  to  act  in  this  respect.  It 
is  probable  that  all  of  these  people  might  intend, 
by  such  a  rite,  to  preserve  their  children  from  the 
sorceries  and  evil  charms  which  wicked  spirits 
might  employ  against  them  at  the  instant  of  their 
birth.  Several  nations  of  Asia  and  America  have 
attributed  such  a  power  to  ablutions  of  this  kind ; 
nor  were  the  Romans  without  such  a  custom,  though 
they  did  not  wholly  confine  it  to  new  born  infants.'' 
(Mallett's  Scandinavian,  p.  206.) 

S.  Baring  Gould  testifies  concerning  pagan  bap- 
tisms in  Scandinavia  as  follows : 

"  Among  the  Scandinavians,  infant  baptism  was 
in  vogue  before  the  introduction  of  Christianity, 
and  the  rite  accompanied  the  naming  of  the  child. 
Before  the  accomplishment  of  this  rite,  the  expo- 
sition of  the  babe  was  lawful,  but  after  the  ceremony 
it  became  murder.  A  baptism  in  blood  seems  to 
have  been  practiced  by  the  Germans  and  Norsemen 
in  remote  antiquity ;  to  this  the  traditions  of  the 


144  IMMERSION. 

horny  Sigfrid,  or  Sigurd,  and  Wolfdietrich  point. 
Dipping  in  water,  and  aspersion  with  water,  or  with 
the  blood  of  a  victim,  w^as  also  customary  among 
the  Druids,  as  was  also  the  baptism  of  Fire,  perhaj)3 
borrowed  by  them  from  the  Phoenicians.  This 
was  that  passing  through  the  fire  to  Molech  alluded 
to  repeatedly  in  the  Jewish  Scriptures."  (Orig. 
and  Devel.  Rel.  Bel.  Circu.  p.  397.) 

Prescott  speaks  of  the  amazement  with  which 
the  early  Spaniards  beheld  the  points  of  similarity 
between  the  customs  of  the  Pagan  Mexicans  and 
the  Roman  Catholic  Church :  He  says : 

"  With  the  same  feelings  they  witnessed  another 
ceremony,  that  of  the  Aztec  baptism ;  in  which,  after 
a  solemn  invocation,  the  head  and  lips  of  the  in- 
fant were  touched  with  water,  and  a  name  given 
to  it;  while  the  goddess  Cioacoati,  who  presided 
over  child-birth,  was  implored  that  the  sin  which 
was  given  to  us  before  the  beginning  of  the  world, 
might  not  visit  the  child,  but  that,  cleansed  by 
these  waters,  it  might  live  and  be  born  anew." 
(Con.  of  Mex.  vol.  3,  p.  369.) 

A  full  account  of  these  pagan  baptisms  in  Mex- 
ico is  given  by  Shagun-de-Bernardino,  as  follows: 

"  When  eveiy  thing  necessary  for  the  baptism 
had  been  made  ready,  all  the  relations  of  the  child 
were    a88eml)led,   and   the    midwife,   who   was  the 


SPRINKLING   A   HEATHEN    CUSTOM.  145 

person   that  performed  the   rite   of  baptism,  was 
summoned.     At  early  dawn  they  met  together  in 
the  court-yard  of  the  house.     When  the  sun  had 
risen,  the  midwife,  taking  the  chikl  in  her  arms, 
called  for  a   little   earthen  vessel   of  water,  while 
those  about  her  placed  the  ornaments  which  had 
been  prepared  for  the  baptism  in  the  midst  of  the 
court.     To  perform  the  rite  of  baptism,  she  placed 
herself  with  her  face  toward  the  west,  and  imme- 
diately began  to   go  through   certain   ceremonies. 
After  this  she  sprinkled  water  on  the  head  of  the 
infant,  saying,  '  O  my  child,  take  and  receive  the 
water  of  the  Lord  of  the  world,  which  is  our  life, 
and  is  given  for  the  increasing  and  renewing  of 
our  body.     It  is  to  wash  and  to  purify.     I  pray 
that   these    heavenly   drops    may   enter  into   your 
body  and  dwell  there ;  that  they  may  destroy  and 
remove  from  you  all  the  evil  and  sin  which  was 
given  to  you  before  the  beginning  of  the  world ; 
since  all  of  us  are  under  its  power,  being  all  the 
children  of  Chalchivitlycue'  (the  goddess  of  water). 
She  then  washed  the  body  of  the  child  with  water, 
and  spoke  in  this  manner:    ^ Whencesoever  thou 
comest,  thou  that  art  hurtful  to  this  child,  leave 
him  and  depart  from  him,  for  he  now  liveth  anew, 
and  is  born  anew ;  now  he  is  purified,  and  cleansed 
afresh.      And   our   mother   Chalchivitlycue   again 
10 


146  IMMERSION. 

bringeth  into  the  world.'  Having  thus  prayed, 
the  midwife  took  the  child  in  both  hands,  lifted 
him  toward  heaven,  and  said :  '  O  Lord,  thou  seest 
here  thy  creature,  whom  thou  hast  sent  into  this 
world,  this  place  of  sorrow,  suffering,  and  peni- 
tence. Grant  him,  O  Lord,  thy  gifts  and  thine 
inspiration,  for  thou  art  the  great  God,  and  with 
thee  is  the  great  goddess.'  Torches  of  pine  were 
kept  burning  during  the  performance  of  these  cere- 
monies. When  these  things  were  ended  they  gave 
the  child  the  name  of  some  one  of  his  ancestors, 
in  hope  that  he  might  shed  a  new  luster  over  it. 
The  name  was  given  by  the  same  midwife  or 
priestess  who  baptized  him.''  (Hist,  de  Neuva- 
Espana,  lib.  G,  cap.  37.) 

From  these  unimpeachable  authorities  nothing 
is  more  evident  than  that  the  heathens  believed  in 
baptismal  salvation,  and  practiced  infant  baptism, 
and  that  the  act  was  pouring,  sprinkling,  and  im- 
mersion indifferently.  When  some  of  the  popular 
Church  Liturgies  of  to-day  are  compared  with  the 
j)rayers  and  performances  quoted  above,  the  simi- 
larity is  most  striking  and  startling.  The  truth  is 
that  the  ceremonies  of  infant  sprinkling  are  taken 
from  the  Elusinian  and  Druidical  lustrations.  Many 
of  the  foremost  Pedobaptist  scholars  do  not  deny, 
but  freely  admit,  this  fact. 


SPRINKLIXG    A    HEATHEN    CUSTOM.  147 

Dr.  Bennett,  a  Methodist  author  whom  we  have 
frequently  quoted,  repeatedly  shows  that  in  the 
architecture  of  the  third  and  following  centuries 
heathen  thought  and  figures  are  used,  and  that  a 
heathen  god  is  in  the  only  picture  of  pouring  for 
baptism  Ibund  in  early  art.  His  w^hole  book  on 
*' Archaeology '^  is  a  statement  of  this  fact. 

Dean  Stanley  is  even  more  explicit.  He  says : 
'*  It  IS  astonishing  how  many  of  these  decorations 
are  taken  from  heathen  sources  and  copied  from 
heathen  paintings.  There  is  Orpheus  playing  on 
his  harp  to  the  beasts ;  there  is  Bacchus  as  the  god 
of  the  vintage ;  there  is  Psyche,  the  butterfly  of 
the  soul ;  there  is  the  Jordan  as  the  god  of  the 
river.  The  Classical  and  the  Christian,  the  He- 
brew and  the  Hellenic,  elements  had  not  yet 
parted.  The  strict  demarkation,  which  the  books 
of  the  period  would  imply,  between  the  Christian 
Church  and  the  heathen  world,  had  not  yet  been 
formed,  or  was  constantly  effaced.  The  Catacombs 
had  more  affinity  with  the  chapel  of  Alexander  Se- 
verus,  which  contained  Orpheus  side  by  side  with 
Abraham  and  Christ,  than  they  have  w^ith  the  writ- 
ings of  Tertullian,  who  spoke  of  heathen  poets  only 
to  exult  in  their  future  torments ;  or  of  Augustine, 
who  regarded  this  very  figure  of  Orpheus  only  as  a 
mischievous  teacher  to  be  disparaged,  not  as  a  type 


148  IMMERSION. 

of  the  two  forms  of  heathen  and  Christian  civiliza- 
tion. It  agrees  with  the  fact  that  the  funeral  in- 
scriptions are  often  addressed  Dis  manibus,  ^to  the 
funeral  spirits.' "     (Inst.  p.  230.) 

If  any  thing  more  was  needed,  the  statement  of 
the  late  Cardinal  Newman  would  put  it  at  rest 
when  he  speaks  of  these  appendages  as  ^Hhe  very 
instruments  and  appendages  of  demon  worship." 
(Devel.  pp.  359,  360.) 

In  truth  the  Roman  Catholic  writers  defended  it 
as  the  very  best  policy  possible.  No  man  is  higher 
authority  among  Roman  Catholics  than  Cardinal 
Baron i us.     He  says  : 

'^  It  was  permitted  the  Church  to  transfer  to  pi- 
ous uses  those  ceremonies  which  the  pagans  had 
wickedly  applied  in  a  superstitious  worship,  after 
having  purified  them  by  consecration ;  so  that,  to 
the  greater  contumely  of  the  devil,  all  might  honor 
Christ  with  those  rites  which  he  intended  for  his 
own  worship.  Thus  the  pagan  festivals,  laden  with 
superstition,  were  changed  into  praiseworthy  festi- 
vals of  the  martyrs;  and  the  idolatrous  temples 
were  changed  to  sacred  churches,  as  Theodoret 
shows." 

The  scholarly  Max  MuUer  says  of  the  first  three 
centuries : 

"  This  age  was  characterized,  far  more  than  all 


SPRINKLING    A    HEATHEN    CUSTOM.  149 

before  it,  by  a  spirit  of  religious  syncretism,  an 
eager  thirst  for  compromise.  To  mold  together 
thoughts  which  differed  fundamentally,  to  grasp, 
if  possible,  the  common  elements  pervading  all  the 
multifarious  religions  of  the  world,  was  deemed 
the  proper  business  of  philosophy,  both  in  the  East 
and  in  the  West.  It  was  a  period,  one  has  lately 
said,  of  mystic  incubation,  when  India  and  Egypt, 
Babylon  and  Greece,  were  sitting  together  and  gos- 
siping like  crazy  old  women,  chattering  with  tooth- 
less gums  and  silly  brains  about  the  dreams  and 
joys  of  their  youth,  yet  unable  to  recall  one  single 
thought  or  feeling  with  that  vigor  which  once  gave 
it  light  and  truth. 

'•  It  was  a  period  of  religious  and  metaphysical 
delirium,  when  every  thing  became  every  thing; 
when  Maya  and  Sophia,  Mithra  and  Christ,  Yiraf 
and  Isaiah,  Belus,  Zarvan,  and  Kronos  were  mixed 
up  in  one  jumbled  system  of  inane  speculation, 
from  Avhich  at  least  the  East  was  delivered  by  the 
positive  doctrines  of  Mohammed,  the  West  by  the 
pure  Christianity  of  the  Teutonic  nations.^'  (Last 
Res.  of  Persian  Res.  c.  3,  sec.  1,  part  1.) 

I  would,  therefore,  state  the  case  thus :  In  the 
New  Testament  we  find  no  such  things  as  bap- 
tismal salvation,  infant  baptism,  sprinkling  and 
pouring,  godfathers,  and  many  more  such  things; 


150  IMMERSION. 

but  in  contemporary  heathenism  we  will  find  all 
of  these  things.  A  little  later  there  are  thousands 
of  baptized  but  unconverted  heathen  received  into 
the  Church.  They  were  required  to  change  their 
name,  but  not  their  practices.  It  came  to  pass  that 
all  of  these  ceremonies  found  in  heathenism,  but 
unknown  in  the  Nesv  Testament,  were  found  in 
the  Catholic  Church.  From  whence  came  they? 
Only  one  answer  can  be  given :  They  were  taken 
from  the  pagans  by  way  of  compromise. 


THE    BAPTISM    OF   THE   SICK.  151 


CHAPTER  XIX. 
THE  BAPTISM  OF  THE  SICK. 

TF  immersion  was  so  universally  taught  in  the 
ancient  Christianity,  how  was  sprinkling  in- 
troduced? I  answ^er  in  the  baptism  of  the  sick,  or, 
as  it  was  afterwards  called,  clinic  baptism.  The 
baptism  of  the  sick  originated  in  a  dangerous 
heresy.  Men  had  departed  from  the  simplicity  of 
the  Gospel.  The  atoning  efficacy  of  the  blood  of 
Christ  was  left  out  of  sight,  and  the  importance  of 
baptism  was  overestimated.  It  was  at  this  time  that 
the  doctrine  of  baptismal  salvation  was  spread  abroad 
throughout  the  churches.  Along  with  it  were  the 
attendant  evils,  infant  baptism  and  sprinkling.  It 
was  argued  that  if  infants  were  to  die  unbaptized, 
they  would  be  eternally  condemned.  Since  a  man 
upon  his  sick  bed  could  not  be  immersed  easily, 
and  if  he  died  unbaptized,  he  would  be  lost,  it  wa-i 
thought  that  a  profusion  of  water  poured  upon  him 
might  save  him.    This  was  called  clinic  baptism. 

The  first  instance  of  clinic  baptism  upon  record, 
indeed,  the  first  example  of  affusion,  is  given  in 
the  Ecclesiastical  History  of  Eusebius,  which  lies 
before  me.     It  was  the   celebrated   case   of  Nova- 


152  IMMERSION. 

tian,  A.  D.  250.  Eusebius  says  of  him:  "Being 
delivered  by  the  exorcists,  he  fell  into  a  severe 
sickness;  and  as  he  seemed  about  to  die,  he  re- 
ceived baptism  by  affusion,  on  the  bed  where  he 
lay ;  if,  indeed,  we  can  say  such  a  one  did  receive 
it.^'  (Nic.  Fath.  vol.  1,  pp.  288,  289.) 
I  will  make  some  reflections  on  this  case : 

1.  This  is  the  earliest  instance  of  sprinkling 
upon  record.  Pedobaptists  have  searched  dili- 
gently, and  they  have  never  found  an  earlier. 
When  was  this?  Two  hundred  and  fifty  years 
after  Christ ! 

2.  Sprinkling  had  its  origin  in  the  baptism  of 
the  sick.  Eusebius  mentions  this  case  as  peculiar. 
Many  writers  say  that  sprinkling  and  pouring 
originated  in  the  baptism  of  the  sick.  Cyprian, 
Bishop  of  Carthage,  A.  D.  257,  in  answer  to 
Magnus,  says :  "  You  have  asked  also,  dearest 
son,  what  I  thought  of  those  Avho  have  obtained 
God's  grace  in  sickness  and  weakness,  whether 
they  are  to  be  accounted  legitimate  Christians,  for 
that  they  are  not  to  be  washed,  but  sprinkled,  with 

the  saving  water As  far  as  my  poor 

understanding  conceives  it,  I  think  that  the  divine 
benefits  can  in  no  respect  be  mutilated  and  weak- 
ened; nor  can  any  thing  less  occur  in  that  case, 
where  with  full  and  entire  faith,  both  of  the  giver 


THE   BAPTISM   OF   THE   SICK.  153 

and  of  the  receiver,  is  accepted  what  is  drawn  from 

the  divine  gift In  the  sacrament  of 

salvation,  when  necessity  compels,  and  God  be- 
stows his  mercy,  the  divine  methods  confer  the 
whole  benefit  on  believers  ;  nor  ought  it  to  trouble 
any  one  that  sick  people  seem  to  be  sprinkled  or 
aifiised  when  they  obtain  the  Lord's  grace."  (Ante- 
Nic.  Fath.,  vol.  5,  pp.  400,  401.) 

As  late  as  754  the  monks  of  Cressy  asked  Pope 
Stephen  II.:  "Is  it  lawful,  in  cases  of  necessity 
occasioned  by  sickness,  to  baptize  an  infant  by 
pouring  water  on  its  head  from  a  cup  or  the 
hands  ?  "  The  Pope  replied :  "  Such  a  baptism, 
performed  in  such  a  case  of  necessity,  shall  be  ac- 
counted valid.'*  Basnage  says:  "  This  was  ac- 
counted the  first  law  against  immersion." 

The  great  historian  Neander  remarks:  '^  In 
respect  to  the  form  of  baptism,  it  was  in  con- 
formity with  the  original  institution  and  the  orig- 
inal import  of  the  symbol,  performed  by  immersion, 
as  a  sign  of  entire  baptism  into  the  Holy  Spirit,  of 
being  entirely  penetrated  by  the  same.  It  was 
only  with  the  sick,  when  the  exigency  required  it, 
that  any  exception  was  made ;  and  in  this  case 
baptism  w^as  administered  by  sprinkling.  Many 
superstitious  persons,  clinging  to  the  outward  form, 
imagined  that  such  baptism  by  sprinkling  was  not 


154  IMMERSION. 

fully  valid;  and  hence  they  distinguished  those 
who  had  been  thus  baptized  by  denominating  them 
the  clinici,''     (Ch.  Hist.,  vol  1,  p.  310.) 

Geiseler  is  most  emphatic,  and  calls  things  by  the 
right  name.  He  says :  "  It  was  often  necessary  to 
baptize  the  sick,  and  in  that  case  sprinkling  was 
substituted  for  the  visual  rite.^'  (Ch.  Hist.,  vol.  1, 
p.  159.) 

3.  As  it  has  been  already  intimated,  all  persons 
did  not  hold  that  this  baptism  was  valid.  None 
thought  it  so  good  as  immersion.  Eusebius  adds : 
**  If,  indeed,  it  be  proper  to  say  that  one  like  him 
did  receive  baptism.''  There  would  have  been 
no  dispute  if  sprinkling  had  been  regarded  as 
baptism. 

The  historians  are  unanimous  on  this  point. 
Dr.  George  C.  Kuapp,  late  Professor  of  Theology 
in  the  University  of  Halle,  says  :  "  Immersion  is 
peculiarly  agreeable  to  the  institution  of  Christ,  and 
to  the  practice  of  the  apostolic  church,  and  so  even 
John  baptized,  and  immersion  remained  common  for 
a  long  time  after ;  except  that  in  the  third  century, 
or  perhaps  earlier,  the  baptism  of  the  sick  was  per- 
formed by  sprinkling  or  affusion.  Still  some 
would  not  acknowledge  this  to  be  true  baptism,  and 
controversy  arose  concerning  it,  so  unheard  of  was 


THE    BAPTISM    OF   THE   SICK.  155 

it  at  that  time  to  baptize  by  affusion."  (Knapp's 
TheoL,  p.  486.) 

Venema  testifies :  "  To  the  essential  rite  of  bap- 
tism in  the  third  century,  pertained  immersion,  and 
not  aspersion,  except  in  cases  of  necessity,  and  it 
was  accounted  a  half  perfect  baptism. 

Salmasius:  "Thus,  Novatian,  when  sick,  re- 
ceived baptism,  being  sprinkled,  not  baptized." 

Valesius  says :  "  Therefore,  baptism  of  this  kind 
was  not  customary,  and  was  esteemed  imperfect." 

Baronius,  the  great  Catholic  historian,  adds: 
"  Those  who  were  baptized  upon  their  beds  were 
not  called  Christians,  but  clinics."  (Annals,  vol* 
1,  p.  208,  ed.  1623.) 

Look  at  what  these  historians  say ;  the  iutrodw- 
tion  of  sprinkling,  even  for  the  sick,  caused  a  con- 
troversy that  lasted  for  centuries.  It  was  an 
unheard  of  thing.  It  was  called  a  half  perfect 
baptism,  and  the  persons  thus  baptized  were  iiot 
called  Christians,  but  clinics. 

4.  The  clinics  were  not  admitted  to  sacred  or- 
ders. Eusebius  quotes  Fabius  with  approbation, 
as  follows :  "  For  this  illustrious  man  forsook 
the  Church  of  God,  in  which  when  he  believed,  he 
was  judged  worthy  of  the  presbyterate  through  the 
favor  of  the  bishop  who  ordained  him  to  the  pres- 
bvterial  office.     This  had  been  resisted  bv  all  the 


156  IMMERSION. 

clergy  and  many  of  the  laity ;  because  it  was  un- 
lawful that  one  who  had  been  affused  on  his  bed, 
an  account  of  sickness,  as  he  had  been,  should  en- 
ter into  any  clerical  office;  but  the  bishop  re- 
quested that  he  might  be  permitted  to  ordain  this 
one  only/'     (Nic.  Fath.,  vol.  1,  p.  289.) 

This  establishes  the  point. 

Was  it  against  the  condition  of  Novatian  being 
sick,  or  against  the  act  of  baptism  that  the  objec- 
tion was  urge<l?  I  answer,  against  both.  1. 
Against  the  person  sick.  The  Council  of  Neo- 
Csesarea,  in  its  twelfth  canon,  affirms :  ^^  He  that 
is  baptized  when  he  is  sick,  ought  not  to  be  made 
a  priest;  for  his  coming  to  faith  is  not  voluntary, 
but  from  necessity.''  2.  Against  his  baptisn). 
While  Novatian  was  living  Magnus  asked  Cyp- 
rian, ^'  Whether  they  are  to  be  esteemed  right 
Christians  who  are  not  washed  in  water  but  only 
sprinkled?"  Cyprian  answered,  "Necessity  com- 
pelling, and  God  granting  his  indulgence.''  Vale- 
rius says :  "  In  addition,  since  baptism  properly 
signifies  immersion,  a  pouring  of  this  sort  could 
hardly  be  called  a  baptism.  Wherefore  clinics 
were  forbidden  to  be  promoted  to  the  rank  of  the 
presbytery,  by  the  twelfth  canon  of  the  Council  of 
Neo-Ciesarea." 

This,  then,  is  the  origin  of  sprinkling.     From 


THE    BAPTISM    OF   THE   SICK.  157 

this  clinic  baptism  sprinkling  has  finally  prevailed 
in  the  West  among  Catholics,  with  the  exception 
of  Milan,  which  still  holds  to  immersion,  and 
among  Protestants  with  the  exception  of  the  Bap- 
tists. This  small  beginning  has  led  to  great  re- 
sults. ^*  It  shows  how  closely  we  should  watch 
innovations,  and  how  earnestly  we  should  hold  to 
the  practice  of  the  Scriptures.  This  ordinance  of 
God's  house  has  been  changed,  and  so  changed  as 
to  completely  destroy  its  symbolical  import.  It 
shows  how  the  spirit  that  lives  and  moves  in 
human  society  can  override  the  most  sacred  ordi- 
nances.'^  Or,  as  Dean  Stanley  has  said  in  another 
place :  "  These  are  the  outward  forms  of  which,  in 
the  Western  churches,  almost  every  particular  is 
altered,  even  the  most  material  points.  Immer- 
sion has  become  the  exception  and  not  the  rule. 
Adult  baptism  as  well  as  immersion,  exists  only 
among  the  Baptists.  The  dramatic  action  of  the 
scene  is  lost" 


158  IMMERSION. 


CHAPTER  XX. 

THE  HISTORY  OF  SPRINKLING. 

ITT  has  already  been  shown  that  sprinkling  orig- 
inated  in  the  baptism  of  the  sick.  This,  how- 
ever, was  of  very  doubtful  authority  and  did  not 
come  into  current  use.  It  proved  not  to  be  popular, 
but  was  an  innovation  that  was  most  generally 
condemned.  Upon  the  origin  of  sprinkling  for 
baptism  the  learned  Sir  David  Brewster  says :  ^'  It 
is  impossible  to  mark  the  period  when  sprinkling 
was  introduced.  It  is  probable,  however,  that  it 
was  invented  in  Africa,  in  the  second  century,  in 
favor  of  clinics.  But  it  was  so  far  from  being  ap- 
proved of  the  church  in  general,  that  the  Africans 
themselves  did  not  count  it  valid.''  (Edin.  Ency., 
vol.  3,  p.  236.) 

Before  the  Reformation  sprinkling  made  very 
indifferent  headway.  Now  and  then  it  had  an  ad- 
vocate, but  it  did  not  prevail.  All  of  the  reformers 
recognized  immersion  as  the  primitive  act  of  bap- 
tism. They  had  no  hesitation  in  freely  expressing 
themselves.  Luther,  in  his  work  on  The  Sacrament 
of  Baptism,  says:  ''First,  baptism  is  a  Greek 
word.     In  Latin  it  can  be  translated  immersion,  as 


THE    HISTORY    OF   SPRINKLING.  159 

when  we  plunge  something  into  water,  that  it  may 
be  completely  covered  with  water;  and  although 
that  custom  has  been  given  up  by  most  persons — 
for  they  do  not  wholly  submerge  the  children,  but 
only  pour  on  them  a  little  water,  yet  they  ought 
to  have  been  completely  immersed  and  straight- 
way drawn  out  again." 

Luther  voiced  the  opinion  of  all  of  the  reform- 
ers, but  the  popish  practice  of  sprinkling  had 
already  set  in  and  the  tide  was  too  great  to  be 
resisted.  The  Greeks,  not  being  under  the  authority 
of  the  Pope,  would  not  give  way  and  so  practice 
immersion  till  this  day.  But  in  other  quarters 
sprinkling  became  well  nigh  universal. 

The  question  then  naturally  comes  up,  from 
whence  came  this  sprinkling.  That  it  was  a  change 
in  the  original  act  there  can  be  no  doubt.  "The 
question  now  arises,"  says  Dr.  Schaff,  the  eminent 
Presbyterian  scholar,  "when  and  how  came  the 
mode  of  pouring  and  sprinkling  to  take  the  place 
of  immersion  and  emersion,  as  a  rule.  The  change 
was  gradual  and  confined  to  the  Western  churches. 
The  Roman  Church,  as  we  have  seen,  backed  by 
the  authority  of  Thomas  Aquinas,  ^the  Angelic 
Doctor,'  took  the  lead  in  the  thirteenth  century, 
yet  so  as  to  retain  in  her  rituals  the  form  of  immer- 
sion as  the  older  and  better  mode.     The  practice 


160  IMMERSION. 

prevailed  over  theory,  and  the  exception    became 
the  rule/'     (Teach,  p.  51.) 

France  appears  to  have  been  the  first  country 
where  sprinkling  prevailed.  That  country  was 
more  completely  under  the  power  and  spirit  of  the 
Pope  than  any  other,  and  it  at  once  accepted  the 
doctrine  that  the  Church  had  a  right  to  change 
any  ordinance  at  its  will.  Says  Dr.  Wall :  "  France 
seems  to  have  been  the  first  country  in  the  world 
where  baptism  by  aifusion  was  used  ordinarily  to 
persons  in  health,  and  in  the  public  way  of  admin- 
istering it.  .  .  .  From  France  it  spread  (but 
not  till  a  good  while  after)  into  Italy,  Germany, 
Spain,  &c.,  and  last  of  all  into  England. ''  (Hist. 
In.  Bap.  vol.  1,  p.  576,  577.) 

Sir  David  Brewster  gives  such  a  clear  account 
of  the  origin  of  sprinkling  that  I  present  what  he 
says  in  this  connection.  Says  he :  "  The  first  law 
for  sprinkling  was  obtained  in  the  following  man- 
ner: Pope  Stephen  III.  being  driven  from  Rome 
by  Astulphus,  king  of  the  Lombards,  in  753,  fled 
to  Pepin,  who,  a  short  time  before,  had  usurped  the 
crown  of  France.  Whilst  he  remained  there,  the 
Monks  of  Cressy  in  Brittany  consulted  him,  whether, 
in  a  case  of  necessity,  baptism,  performed  by  pour- 
ing water  on  the  head  of  the  infant,  would  be 
lawful.    Ste])lK'n  n^plied,  that  it  would.    But  though 


THE    HISTORY   OF   SPRINKLING.  161 

the  truth  of  this  fact  should  be  allowed,  which 
some  Catholics  deny,  yet  pouring  or  sprinkling  was 
only  admitted  in  cases  of  necessity.  It  was  not 
till  1311,  that  the  legislature,  in  a  Council  held  at 
Ravenna,  declared  immersion  or  sprinkling  to  be 
indifferent.''     (Edinburg  Ency.  vol.  3,  p.  236.) 

But  it  is  a  remarkable  fact  that  the  cold  coun- 
tries held  on  to  immersion  longer  than  the  warm 
countries.     France,  a  southern  country,  introduced 
sprinkling;  but  England,  a  cold  country,  held  on 
to  immersion.     It  was  not  until  the  time  of  bloody 
Mary  that  sprinkling  was  introduced  into  England. 
Dr.  Wall  says :  "  One  would  have  thought  that  the 
cold  countries  should  have  been  the  first  that  should 
have  changed  the  custom  from  dipping  to  affusion, 
because  in  cold  climates  the  bathing  of  the  body  in 
water  may  seem  much  more  unnatural  and  danger- 
ous to  the  health  than  in  the  hot  ones  (and  it  is  to 
be  noted,  by  the  way,  that  all  of  those  countries  of 
whose  rites  of  baptism,  and  immersion  used  in  it, 
we  have  any  account  in  the  Scriptures  or  other  an- 
cient history,  are  in  hot  climates,  where  fre(iuent 
and  common  bathing  both  of  infants  and  grown  per- 
sons is  natural,  and  even  necessary  to  the  health). 
But  by  history  it  appears  that  the  cold  climates 
held  the  custom  of  dipping  as  long  as  any ;  for  En- 
gland, which  is  one  of  the  coldest,  was  one  of  the 
11 


162  IMMERSION 

latest  that  admitted  this  alteration  of  the  ordinary 
way/'    (WalPs  Hist.  vol.  1,  p.  575.) 

As  to  just  how  universal  dipping  was  in  England 
at  this  period  I  will  let  Dr.  Schaif  relate :  ''  King 
Edward  VI.,"  says  he,  "  and  Queen  Elizabeth  were 
immersed.  The  first  Prayer  Book  of  Edward  YI. 
(1549),  followed  the  Office  of  Sarum,  directs  tlie 
priest  to  dip  the  child  in  water  thrice :  '  first,  dyp- 
ping  the  right  side ;  secondly,  the  left  side ;  the 
third  time,  dypping  the  face  toward  the  fonte.'  In 
the  second  Prayer  Book  (1552)  the  priest  is  simply 
directed  to  dip  the  child  discreetly  and  warily;  and 
permission  is  given,  for  the  first  time  in  Great 
Britain,  to  substitute  pouring  if  the  godfathers  and 
godmothers  certify  that  the  child  is  weak.  ^During 
the  reign  of  Elizabeth,'  says  Dr.  Wall,  ^  many  fond 
ladies  and  gentlewomen  first,  and  then  by  degrees 
the  common  people,  would  obtain  the  favor  of  the 
priests  to  have  their  children  pass  for  weak  chil- 
dren too  tender  to  endure  dipping  in  the  water.' 
The  same  writer  traces  the  practice  of  sprinkling 
to  the  period  of  the  Long  Parliament  and  the  West- 
minster Assembly.  *  This  chanr/e  in  England  and 
other  Protestant  countries  from  immersion  to  ])our- 
ing,  and  from  pouring  to  sprinkling,  was  encour- 
aged by  the  authority  of  Calvin,  who  declared  the 
mode  to  be  a  matter  of  no  importance ;  and  by  the 


THE  HISTORY   OF   SPRINKLING.  163 

Westminster  Assembly  of  Divines  (1643-1652), 
which  decided  that  pouring  and  sprinkling  are  *  not 
only  lawful,  but  also  sufficient.'  The  Westminster 
Confession  declares :  '  Dipping  of  the  person  into 
the  water  is  not  necessary ;  but  baptism  is  rightly 
administered  by  pouring  or  sprinkling  water  upon 
the  person.'"    (Teach,  pp.  51,  52.) 

It  was  largely  through  the  authority  of  Calvin 
that  sprinkling  came  into  general  use  in  England. 
I  am  anxfthis  to  have  these  statements  historically 
correct,  and  therefore  I  give  them  in  the  words  of 
others.  Sir  David  Brewster,  whom  I  have  so  often 
quoted  in  this  chapter,  is  unquestioned  authority. 
His  account  is  as  follows:  "During  the  persecu- 
tion of  Mary,  many  persons,  most  of  whom  were 
Scotchmen,  fled  from  England  to  Geneva,  and  there 
greedily  imbibed  the  opinions  of  that  church.  In 
1556  a  book  was  published  in  that  place  contain- 
ing '  The  Form  of  Prayer  and  Ministration  of  the 
Sacraments,  approved  by  the'  famous  and  godly 
learned  man,  John  Calvin,'  in  which  the  adminis- 
trator is  enjoined  to  take  water  in  his  hand  and 
lay  it  upon  the  child's  forehead.  These  Scotch  ex- 
iles, who  had  renounced  the  authority  of  the  Pope, 
implicitly  acknowledged  the  authority  of  Calvin ; 
and  returning  to  their  own  countr}^,  with  Knox  at 
their  head,  in  1559,  established  sprinkling  in  Scot- 


164  IMMERSION. 

land.  From  Scotland  this  practice  made  its  way 
into  England  in  the  reign  of  Elizabeth,  but  was 
not  authorized  by  the  established  church.  In  the 
Assembly  of  Divines,  held  at  Westminster  in  1643, 
it  was  keenly  debated  whether  immersion  or  sprink- 
ling should  be  adopted :  25  voted  for  sprinkling, 
and  24  for  immersion ;  and  even  this  small  major- 
ity was  obtained  at  the  earnest  request  of  Dr. 
Lightfoot,  who  had  acquired  great  influence  in 
that  Assembly.  Sprinkling  is  therefore  the  gen- 
eral practice  of  this  country.  Many  Christians, 
however,  especially  the  Baptists,  reject  it.  The 
Greek  Church  universally  adheres  to  immersion." 
(Edin.  Ency.  vol.  3,  p.  236.) 

The  account  of  this  change  as  given  by  Dean 
Stanley,  the  English  High-Church  Episcopalian,  is 
intensely  entertaining.  He  says :  "  We  now  pass 
to  the  changes  in  the  form  itself  For  th'.'  first 
thirteen  centuries  the  almost  universal  jiractice  of 
baptism  was  that  of  which  we  read  in  thc^  New 
Testament,  and  which  is  the  very  meaning  of  the 
word  baptize :  that  those  who  were  baptized  were 
plunged,  submerged,  immersed  into  the  water. 
That  practice  is  still,  as  we  have  seen,  continued 
in  Eastern  churches.  In  the  Western  Church  it 
still  lingers  among  Roman  Catholics  in  the  solitary 
instance  of  the  Cathedral  of  Milan  ;  amongst  Prot- 


THE    HISTORY    OF    SPRINKLING.  165 

estants  in  the  luimerous  .sect  of  the  Baptists.  It 
lasted  long  into  the  Middle  Ages.  Even  the  Ice- 
landers, who  at  first  shrank  from  the  water  of  their 
freezing  lakes,  were  reconciled  when  they  found 
that  they  could  use  the  Avarm  water  of  the  Geysers. 
And  the  cold  climate  of  Russia  has  not  been  found 
an  obstacle  to  its  continuance  throughout  that  vast 
empire.  Even  in  the  Church  of  Enghuid  it  is  still 
observed  in  theory.  The  Rubric  in  tlu'  public 
baptism  for  infants  enjoins  that,  unless  for  special 
causes,  they  are  to  be  dipped,  not  sprinkled.  Ed- 
ward VI.  and  Elizabeth  were  botli  immersed.  But 
since  the  beginning  of  the  seventeenth  century  the 
practice  has  become  exceedingly  rare.  With  the 
few  exceptions  just  mentioned,  the  whole  of  the 
Western  churches  have  now  substituted  for  the  an- 
cient bath  the  ceremony  of  letting  fall  a  few  drops 
of  water  on  the  face."     (Institutes,  pp.  18,  19.) 

These  historical  statements  prove  beyond  doubt 
that  sprinkling  is  of  a  popish  origin.  Where  the 
Pope  of  Rome  has  not  had  control,  sprinkling  has 
never  been  practiced.  This  is  a  notorious  fact,  and 
is  worthy  of  serious  consideration.  Dr.  AYall,  and 
he  was  a  staunch  Episcopalian,  makes  this  plain 
enough.  Says  he :  "  Sprinkling,  for  the  common 
use  of  baptizing,  was  really  introduced  (in  France 
first,  and  then  in   the  other  popish  coujifries)   in 


166  IMMERSION. 

times  of  popery;  and  that  accordingly  all  those 
countries  in  which  the  usurped  power  of  the  Pope 
is  or  has  been  owned  have  left  off  dipping  of  chil- 
dren in  the  font ;  but  that  all  other  countries  in  the 
world  (ichich  have  never  regarded  his  authority)  do 
still  use  it;  and  that  basins,  except  that  in  case  of 
necessity,  were  never  used  by  papist  or  any  other 
Christians  whatsoever  till  by  themselves."  (Wall's 
Hist.  p.  583.) 

Here  are  the  plainest  and  most  emphatic  decla- 
rations of  Pedobaptist  scholars  that  immersion  w«w 
changed  to  sprinkling,  and  this  by  the  authority 
of  Rome.  Sprinkling,  then,  does  not  come  from 
the  New  Testament,  but  from  the  Roman  Catholic 
Church.  It  also  teaches  the  dangerous  tendency 
of  innovations.  Beginning  with  the  affusion  of  a 
sick  man,  it  has  overthrown  the  entire  act  as  com- 
manded by  Christ,  and  substituted  an  entirely  dif- 
ferent thing  in  its  place.  The  beauty  and  sym- 
bolism of  the  ordinance  have  been  destroyed.  As 
for  our  part,  let  us  abide  by  the  plain  teaching  of 
God^s  word,  and  we  are  not  likely  to  go  astray. 


WHAT   THE   COUNCILS   SAY.  H>7 


CHAPTER  XXI. 

WHAT  THE  COUNCII^  OF  THE  ROMAN  CATHOLIC 
CHURCH  SAY. 

Ij^ROM  early  times  until  now  it  has  been  the 
-^  custom  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  to 
call  together  councils  concerning  the  welfare  of 
that  church.  Some  of  those  that  I  shall  notice  are 
called  General  Councils,  representing  the  general 
interest  of  that  church  ;  while  others  were  Provin- 
cial, representing  only  limited  sections.  The  au- 
thorities I  present  are  unquestioned.  Labbe  and 
Cossart^s  edition  of  the  Councils  is  a  very  elabo- 
rate work,  and  is  of  indisputable  authority.  This 
immense  work  is  by  two  Jesuits,  and  nothing  con- 
trary to  Catholic  faith  is  likely  to  be  found  in  its 
pages.  It  is  in  seventeen  large  Latin  volumes, 
and  bears  date,  Paris,  1671.  The  other  references 
are  equally  authoritative,  though  not  so  extensive. 
The  acts  of  the  first  General  Nicene  Council, 
A.  D.  325,  are  in  favor  of  immersion.  The  fol- 
lowing is  found  in  the  acts  of  the  Council :  "  He 
who  is  baptized  descends  indeed,  obnoxious  to  sins, 
and  held  with  the  corruptions  of  slavery;  but  he 
ascends,  free  from  the  slavery  and  sins,  a  son  of 


168  IMMERSION. 

God,  heir — yea,  co-heir — with  Christ,  having  put 
on  Christ,  as  it  is  written,  ^As  many  of  you  as 
were  baptized  into  Christ  have  put  on  Christ/  " 

In  the  Council  of  Carthage,  A.  D.  348,  there 
was  a  fierce  discussion  of  the  subject  of  baptism. 
Several  bishops  spoke,  and  their  speeches  have 
been  preserved.  Bishop  Gratus  said :  '^  I  ask  this 
sacred  assembly  to  express  their  opinion  whether, 
after  a  man  has  descended  into  the  water,  and  has 
been  questioned  as  to  his  belief  in  the  Trinity, 
according  to  the  faith  of  the  Gospel  and  the  doc- 
trines of  the  Apostles,  and  has  made  a  good  con- 
fession concerning  the  resurrection  of  Jesus  Christ, 
he  ought  to  be  again  questioned  concerning  the 
same  faith,  and  again  immersed  in  water  ?  "  All 
the  bishops  answered,  "  Far  be  it,  far  be  it." 
(Labbe  and  Cos.  vol.  2,  p.  1821.) 

In  633  the  Spanish  Council  known  as  the  Fourth 
Council  of  Toledo  was  called  by  King  Sisimand. 
It  was  composed  of  the  Archbishops  of  Seville, 
Narbonne,  Braga,  Merida,  Toledo,  and  Tarragona, 
with  fifty-three  suifragan  bishops,  and  with  seven 
presbyters  representing  bishops.  A  change  had 
been  made  from  trine  to  single  immersion.  Al- 
though this  change  had  been  indorsed  by  the  most 
venerable  bishops,  and  by  a  letter  from  Pope  Gre- 
gory, the  people  were  indignant  and  much  excited. 


WHAT    THE    COUNCILS    SAY.  169 

To  calm  this  excitement  and  unite  the  Spanish 
Catholics  this  Council  decreed :  ''  For  shunning 
the  schism  or  the  use  of  an  heretical  practice,  we 
observe  a  single  immersion  in  Imptism.  Nor  do 
they  who  immerse  three  times  appear  to  us  to  ap- 
prove of  the  claim  of  heretics,  although  they  follow 
their  custom  (of  trine  immersion).  And  that  no 
one  may  doubt  the  propriety  of  this  single  sacra- 
ment, let  him  see  that  it  is  the  death  and  resurrec- 
tion of  Christ  shown  forth.  For  the  immersion  in 
the  waters  is  a  descent,  as  it  were,  into  the  grave ; 
and,  again,  the  emersion  from  the  waters  is  a  res- 
urrection. Likewise  he  may  see  displayed  in  it  the 
unity  of  the  Deity  and  the  Trinity  of  persons — the 
unity  whilst  we  immerse  once,  and  the  Trinity 
whilst  we  baptize  in  the  name  of  the  Father,  and 
of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost."  (Labbe  and 
Cos.  vol.  1,  pp.  1705,  1706.)  The  Council  first  of 
all  indorsed  the  letter  of  Gregory,  which  became 
famous,  and  has  been  quoted  in  all  controversies 
since,  and  then  passed  this  decree  in  favor  of  sin- 
gle immersion. 

In  787  the  Council  of  Calcuith,  in  England,  sent 
an  account  of  its  enactments  to  Pope  Adrian  I.  by 
Gregory  and  Theophylact,  and,  among  other  things, 
they  stated  that  baptism  was  to  be  performed  in  the 
font  on  the  festivals  of  Easter  and  Whitsuntide. 


170  IMMEE8ION. 

The  following  are  the  recommendations  of  the  sec- 
ond canon :  "  That  baptism  be  performed  accord- 
ing to  the  canons,  and  not  at  any  other  time  except 
in  cases  of  emergency;  and  that  all  who  receive 
children  from  the  holy  font,  and  answer  for  those 
who  can  not  speak  for  the  renouncing  of  Satan  and 
his  works  and  pomps,  and  for  believing  the  faith, 
know  that  they  are  their  sureties  unto  the  Lord 
according  to  their  promise;  and  when  they  shall 
have  attained  to  a  competent  age,  let  them  teach 
the  aforesaid  Lord's  prayer  and  creed/'  (Hart's 
Eccl.  Kec.  p.  195.) 

The  second  council  of  Calcuith  was  held  in  the 
kingdom  of  Mercia  in  816,  and  was  presided  over 
by  Mulfud,  Archbishop  of  Canterbury.  The  elev- 
enth canon  insists  on  immersion  in  these  strong 
words :  "  Let  presbyters  also  know  that  when  they 
administer  baptism  they  ought  not  to  pour  the 
consecrated  water  upon  the  infants'  heads,  but  let 
them  always  be  immersed  in  the  font;  as  the  Son 
of  God  himself  afforded  an  example  unto  all  be- 
lievers when  he  was  three  times  immersed  in  the 
river  Jordan."  (Hart's  Eccl.  Rec.  p.  195.)  The 
learned  Collier  said  of  this  canon  that,  "  by  enjoin- 
ing the  priest  not  to  sprinkle  the  infants  in  bap- 
tism shows  the  great  regard  they  had  for  the  prim- 
itive usage  of  immersion ;   that  they  did  not  look 


WHAT    THE    COUNCILS   SAY.  171 

upon  this  as  a  dangerous  rite,  or  at  all  impractical 
in  these  northern  climates;  not  that  they  thought 
this  circumstance  essential  to  the  sacrament,  but 
because  it  was  the  general  practice  of  the  primitive 
church ;  because  it  was  a  lively,  instructive  em- 
blem of  the  death,  burial,  and  resurrection  of  our 
Saviour ;  for  this  reason  they  preferred  it  to  sprink- 
ling/^ (Collier's  Eccl.  Hist.  vol.  1,  p.  354.)  This  is 
a  very  practical  admission,  coming  as  it  does  from 
the  leading  historian  of  the  Episcopal  Church  of 
England.  To  the  fact  that  this  Council  decreed 
immersion,  and  repudiated  sprinkling,  this  histo- 
rian is  a  very  competent  witness,  but  as  to  the 
reason  why  this  was  done  we  have  as  much  right 
to  an  opinion  as  he  had.  They  decreed  immersion 
because  it  was  the  apostolic  rite. 

The  Council  of  Worms,  A.  D.  868,  passed  a  de- 
cree almost  identically  like  that  of  the  Council  of 
Toledo  given  above,  and  the  reason  was  the  same : 
"While  some  priests  baptized  with  three  immer- 
sions, and  the  others  with  but  one,  a  schism  was 
raised,  endangering  the  unity  of  the  Church." 
(Can.  5.) 

The  Council  of  Tribur,  A.  D.  895,  makes  use 
of  these  strong  words:  "Trine  immersion  is  an 
imitation  of  the  three  days'  burial,  and  the  rising 
again    out    of  tlie    water    is    an    image    of   Christ 


1 72  IMMERSION. 

rising  from  the  grave."     (Labbe  and  Cos.,  vol.  9, 
p.  446.) 

The  Council  of  Cashel,  under  Henry  II.,  xV.  D. 
1172;  was  called  to  secure  uniformity  between  the 
English  and  Irish  churches.  Canon  1  reads: 
*'  That  children  be  brought  to  the  church  and  be 
baptized  there  in  pure  water,  with  a  threefold  im- 
mersion; and  that  this  be  done  by  priests,  unleas 
when  there  is  imminent  danger  of  death,  when  it 
may  be  administered  by  any  one  without  distinc- 
tion of  s-x  or  order."     (Hart's  Eccl.  Rec,  p.  202.) 

Another  Council  held  at  Cashel  about  the  same 
time  decreed:  "That  infants  be  catechised  before 
the  doors  of  the  church,  and  then  be  baptized  in 
the  font,  in  baptismal  churches."  (Hart's  Eccl. 
Rec,  p.  202.) 

The  Council  of  York,  1185,  also  decreed  in 
favor  of  immersion. 

The  Westminster  General  Council,  held  in  Lon- 
don, A.  D.  1200,  decreed:  "If  a  layman  baptize 
a  child  in  case  of  necessity,  let  all  that  follows 
after  the  immersion,  (the  chrism,  etc.)  be  per- 
i'ormed  by  a  priest."     (Can.  3.) 

The  Council  of  Worcester,  1240,  speaks  of  im- 
mersion in  these  words :  "  We  enjoin  that  in  every 
church  where  baptism  is  performed,  there  shall  be 
a  font  of  stone  of  sufficient  size  and  depth  for  th" 


WHAT   THE   COUNCILS   SAY.  17S 

baptizing  of  children,  and  it  shall  be  deeply  cov- 
ered, ....  such  little  candidate  for  baptism 
?>e  thrice  immersed.''  And  a  further  decree  :  "  But 
i'hildren  baptized  in  case  of  necessity,  if  they  re- 
cover, must  be  brought  to  the  church,  that  those 
things  that  are  wanting  may  be  supplied,  namely — 
those  things  which  follow  the  immersion  in  bap- 
tism.'' 

The  Council  of  Clermont,  A.  D.  1268,  consider- 
ing a  baptism  that  had  been  performed  by  a  layman 
in  case  of  necessity,  decreed  :  "  At  the  font  every 
thing  which  is  usually  done  shall  be  performed, 
the  immersion  only  excepted,  but  if  it  is  doubtful 
under  what  form  of  words  the  child  has  been  bap- 
tized, then  let  the  priest  baptize  him;  but  while 
he  immerses  him,  let  him  say,  "If  thou  art  not 
already  baptized,  I  baptize  thee  in  the  name  of  the 
Father,"  etc. 

The  Council  of  Reading,  1279,  decreed  that  the 
children  should  be  baptized  only  at  Easter  and 
Pentecost,  cases  of  necessity  excepted ;  and  that  in 
the  meantime  they  should  be  instructed,  "so  that 
immersion  alone  remains  to  be  performed  on  the 
day  of  baptism."    (Can.  4.) 

The  Council  of  Oxford,  1222,  decreed:  "Let 
not  above  three  persons  be  admitted  to  raise  the 


174 


IMMERSION. 


child    from   the   holy   font."    (Hart^s  Eccl.    Rec., 
p.  205.) 

The  Council  of  Cologne,  in  1280,  decreed:  "That 
he  who  baptizes,  when  he  immerses  the  candidate 
in  water,  shall  neither  add  to  the  words,  or  take 
from  them,  or  change  them." 

The  Council  of  Nismes,  1284,  decreed  that: 
"  The  baptizer  shall  thrice  immerse  the  infant  in 
water,  but  if  one  immersion  have  been  performed, 
the  child  will  nevertheless  be  baptized."  (Labbe 
and  Cos.,  vol.  11,  p.  1199.) 

The  Council  of  Ravenna,  1311,  decreed:  *^Bap- 
tism  is  to  be  administered  by  trine  aspersion  or 
immersion."  (Labbe  and  Cos.,  vol.  11,  B.  2, 
p.  1586.) 

This  is  the  first  time  in  history  that  sprinkling 
or  immersion  were  made  indifferent.  It  is  well  to 
say  that  this  Council  only  represented  one  pro- 
vince. Soon  after  this  sprinkling  became  cus- 
tomary in  France,  but  immersion  prevailed  in 
England  until  the  seventeenth  century. 

In  1355,  the  Council  of  Prague  decreed :  "Let 
the  presbyters  take  heed  lest  any  negligence  be 
committed,  either  in  putting  together  or  in  the 
expression  of  the  proi>er  form  of  words,  as  well  as 
in  the  immersion  in  water  with  which  the  whole 
value  of  baptism   is  connected.     As  to   the  form, 


WHAT   THE   COUNCILS  SAY.  175 

let  the  immersion  be  trine,  in  this  manner — that  at 
once,  when  the  administrator  begins  to  utter  the 
prescribed  form,  he  does  that  which  is  first  and 
that  which  is  last  when  he  finishes." 

From  this  time  sprinkling  rapidly  prevailed  in 
the  Catholic  Church,  and  has  become  universal 
with  them  except  in  the  church  at  Milan. 


176  IMMERSION. 


CHAPTER   XXII. 

THE  tp::stimony  of  liturgies  and  rituals. 

T  RARELY,  if  ever,  heard  the  Liturgies  and 
Missals  referred  to  in  an  argument  upon  the 
action  of  baptism,  and  yet  I  consider  that  they 
give  very  strong  testimony  in  favor  of  immersion. 
The  Roman  Catholic  Martini  says :  "  In  all  of 
the  pontificals  and  rituals  I  have  seen,  and  I 
have  seen  many,  ancient  as  well  as  more  recent, 
immersion  is  prescribed.  I  must  except,  how- 
ever, the  ritual  of  the  church  of  Madeleine  de 
Beaulieu,  the  age  of  which  does  not  exceed  three 
hundred  years,  in  which  the  priest  is  directed  to 
pour  water  on  the  head  of  the  infant.'^  A  ritual 
is  of  more  weight  than  the  testimony  of  any  indi- 
vidual could  be ;  for  it  represents  the  opinion  and 
})ractice  of  a  church,  or  of  many  churches,  while 
an  individual  only  expresses  his  own  sentiments. 
I  here  present  a  number  of  these  rituals : 

The  Gothic  Missal,  a  very  old  manuscript,  has 
the  following  prayer  in  the  baptismal  benediction : 
"  We  pray  our  Lord  God  that  he  will  sanctify 
this   font,  so  that  all   who  will   descend   into  this 


TESTIMONY    OF  LITURGIES,    ETC.  177 

font    may    receive    through    the    washing   of  the 
blessed  laver,  the  remission  of  their  sins." 

The  Syrian  Ritual,  as  used  by  the  NestxDrians, 
appears  to  be  decisive :  "  They  bring  them  to  the 
priest,  who,  standing  on  the  western  side  of  the 
baptistery,  turns  the  cliild's  face  to  the  east,  and 
immerses  him  in  water,  putting  his  hand  on  his 
head,  and  saying,  such  a  one  is  baptized  in  the 
name  of  the  Father,  etc."  (Badger's  Nestorians 
and  their  Ritual,  vol.  2,  pp.  207,  208.) 

The  Baptismal  Liturgy,  which  formed  a  part  of 
the  Sacramentary  of  Pope  Gelasius,  A.  D.  492, 
and  which  was  taken  by  Cardinal  Thomasins, 
1748,  from  a  codex  manuscript,  more  than  a 
thousand  years  old,  reads  thus:  "Then  immerse 
three  times  in  water." 

Remingius,    who    baptized   King    Clovis,    in    a 

ritual    taken    from   a  very  old    manuscript,  says  : 

"  The  presbyters  or   the  deacons,  or,    if  need  be, 

acolythis,   having   put   on  their   robes,  proceed  to 

the   font,  and   enter   into  the   water,  and  receive 

therefrom   their    parents,   baptize,  first  the   males, 

and  then  the  females,  by  trine  immersion,  with  but 

one   invocation    of  the    Holy  Trinity,   saying;     I 

baptize  thee  into   the   name    of  the   Father,  and  ^ 

dips  once,  and  of  the  Son,  and  dips  again,  and  of 

Holy  Ghost,  and  dips  the  third  time." 
12 


178  IMMERSION. 

An  ancient  ritual  found  in  a  manuscript  codex 
of  the  Monastery  of  Glogan,  in  the  diocese  of 
Cologne,  says:  "The  presbyter  receiving  the 
infant  from  its  parents,  asking  its  name,  first  bap- 
tizes the  males,  and  then  the  females,  by  trine 
immersion,  saying :  I  baptize  thee  in  the  name, 
etc:' 

The  Ordo  Romanus,  a  Ritual  of  the  eighth  cen- 
tury, has:  "I  baptize  thee  in  the  name  of  the 
Father,  (and  immerses  once,)  and  of  the  Son,  (and 
immerses  the  second  time,)  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost, 
(and  immerses  the  third  time)." 

The  Manual  of  Sarum,  drawn  up  about  1085, 
by  Osmond,  Bishop  of  Salisbury  and  Chancellor 
of  England,  and  adopted  by  nearly  all  of  England, 
Wales  and  Ireland,  and  continued  in  use  till  Ed- 
ward the  VI.,  has:  "The  priest  shall  take  the 
child  into  his  hands,  and  asking  his  name,  l)ap- 
tize  him  by  trine  immersion,  thus  calling  on  the 
name  of  the  Trinity,  he  shall  say:  N.,  I  bap- 
tize thee  in  the  name  of  the  Father,  and  dips  him 
once,  etc." 

This   manual  was   regarded   as  very  great    au- 
thority.    Wall  quotes  it  and  says :      "  The  offices 
^)r    liturgies  for  public  baptism  in  the  Church  of 
England  did  all  along,  so  far  as  I  can  learn,  enjoin 
dipping,  without  any  mention  of  pouring  or  sprink- 


179 

ling.  And  John  Frith,  writing  in  the  year  1533, 
a  treatise  on  baptism,  calls  the  outward  part  of  it, 
the  plunging  down  into  the  water,  and  lifting  up 
again,  which  he  often  mentions,  without  ever 
mentioning  pouring  or  sprinkling.'^  (WalPs  Hist. 
Int.  Bap.  vol.  1,  p.  579.)  And  Wheatly,  writing 
on  the  Book  of  Common  Prayer,  in  1885,  says  : 
"The  Salisbury  Missal,  printed  in  1530,  (the  last 
that  was  in  force  before  the  Reformation,)  expressly 
requires  and  orders  dipping.^'     (p.  350.) 

In  a  ritual  formerly  belonging  to  the  church  at 
Ravenna,  a  manuscript  of  the  twelfth  century,  and 
until  lately  in  possession  of  Jos.  Baptista  Martini, 
but  now  in  the  library  of  the  University  of  the 
city  of  Bologna,  we  find :  "  Then  taking  him,  (the 
candidate)  he  baptized  him,  with  trine  immersion, 
saying,  Wilt  thou  be  baptized  ?  Answer,  I  will, 
three  times.  And  I  baptize  thee  in  the  name  of 
the  Father,  and  dips  him  once,  etc." 

Guillaume  Durant,  Bishop  of  Mendefurn,  1286- 
1296,  prescribed  a  ritual  for  his  clergy,  in  which 
the  following  passage  occurs:  "That  he  who  bap- 
tizes, after  giving  a  name  to  the  child,  and  made 
the  sign  of  the  cross  upon  the  water,  must  plunge 
the  infant  three  times,  ....  he  shall  im- 
merse the  child.'' 

M.  De  Moleon  alludes  to  an  ancient  ritual   of 


180  IMMERSION. 

the  year  1581,  which  prescribes  immersion:  "The 
presbyter  shall  say  to  the  boy,  I  baptize  thee  into 
the  name  of  the  Father,  immerse  once,  etc." 

The  first  prayer  book  of  Edward  VI.  reads: 
'^ First,  dipping  the  right  side;  secondly,  the  left 
side;  third  time  dipping  the  face  toward  the 
font."  The  second  prayer  book  of  Edward,  1551, 
the  first  book  of  Queen  Elizabeth,  1559,  and  that 
of  King  James,  in  1604,  all  read:  "The  priest 
shall  dip  him  in  tlu  water,  discreetly  and  warily ; 
but  if  they  certify  that  the  child  is  weak,  it  shall 
suffice  to  pour  water  upon  it."  This  book  of  Ed- 
ward is  the  first  authentic  permission  for  altering 
the  act  of  baptism  in  Great  Britain,  yet  Dean 
Stanley  asserts  that "  Edward  the  VI.  and  Elizabeth 
were  both  immersed."  (Christian  Institutions,  p.  18.) 

The  Saxon  Visitation  Articles,  1592,  Art.  iii, 
says :  "  That  there  is  but  one  baptism,  and  one 
ablution :  not  that  which  is  used  to  take  away  the 
filth  of  th(^  body,  but  that  which  washes  us  from 
our  sins.  By  baptism,  as  the  bath  of  regenera- 
tion and  renovation  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  God  saves  '> 
us,  and  works  in  us  such  justice  and  purgation 
from  our  sins,  etc."  (Schaif^s  Creeds  of  Christen- 
dom, vol.  3,  p.  184.) 

The  order  of  the  Sacraments,  prepared  by  Po})e 
Gregory   I.,  in   1776,  has:     "Let  the    priest  bap- 


TESTIMONY    OF    LITURGIES,    ETC.  181 

tize  with  a  trine  immersion,  once  only,  invoking 
the  Trinity.'^' 

The  Methodist  Discipline,  so  late  as  1846,  a.<- 
serted  that  Christ  was  baptized  ^Mn  the  river  of 
Jordan,"  and  that  "  buried  in  baptism "  alludes 
to  water  baptism. 

The  present  Ritual  of  the  Greek  Church  reads: 
''  And  when  the  whole  body  is  anointed,  the 
priest  immerses  him,  holding  him  erect,  and  look- 
ing toward  the  cast,  saying,  the  servant  of  the 
God  is  immersed,  in  the  name  of  the  Father,  and 
of  the  Sou,  and  of  the  Holy  Spirit;  now  and  ever, 
and  to  ages  of  ages,  amen.  At  each  invocation, 
bringing  him  down,  and  bringing  him  up.  And 
after  the  immersing,  the  priest  washes  his  hands, 
singing  with  the  people:  Happy  they,  whose  sins 
are  forgiven,  etc.'^ 

I  only  ask  that  you  shall  weigh  the  evidence 
here  submitted.  These  rituals  represent,  or  have 
represented,  much  of  the  faith  and  practice  of  the 
world. 


182  IMMERSION. 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 

WHAT  THE  POETS  SAY. 

"T~^AUL^  in  the  sermon  which  he  delivered  at 
Athens,  thought  it  legitimate  to  appeal  to 
their  own  poets.  I  will  also  refer  to  this  class 
of  writers.  I  have  long  observed  that  all  of  the 
principal  poets  have  favored  immersion  as  the  rite 
of  Christian  baptism,  but  for  some  reason  they  are 
not  often  quoted.  The  evidence  I  introduce  is  of 
two  kinds:  1st,  a  direct  statement  to  this  effect; 
and,  2nd,  an  illustration  of  the  classical  use  of  the 
word.  I  will  give  what  several  of  the  poets  have 
to  say  on  the  subject. 

Dante,  A.  D.  1300,  in  his  vision  of  hell,  describes 
some  apertures  in  the  rocks  of  torment,  of  the  same 
dimensions  as  the  fonts  of  St.  John  the  Baptist  at 
Florence : 

*'  I  saw  the  Uvid  stone  throughout  the  sides, 
And  its  bottom  full  of  apertures, 
All  equal  in  their  width,  and  circular  each  ; 
Nor  ample  less  nor  larger  they  appear'd 
Than  in  Saint  John's  fair  dome  of  me  helov'd, 
Those  fram'd  to  hold  the  pure  baptismal  streams, 
One  of  the  which  I  brake,  some  few  years  past, 
To  save  a  whelming  infant;  and  be  this 
A  seal  to  undecoive  wlioever  doubts 


WHAT   THE    POETS    SAY.  183 

The  motive  of  my  deed.     From  out  the  mouth 
Of  every  one  emerg'd  a  sinner's  feet, 
And  of  the  legs  high  upward  as  the  calf ; 
The  rest  beneath  was  hid." 

There  is  a  j)assage  in  Dante  that  throws  light  on 
the  much  quoted  words  of  Polybius :  "  The  foot- 
poldiers  were  baptized  as  far  as  the  breast/'  Lately 
some  have  contended  that  immerse  was  not  a  proper 
rendering  of  baptize  in  this  passage.  The  poet  says 
of  some  of  the  lost  in  hell : 

"  In  the  pit  they  stand  immers'd, 
Each  from  his  navel  downward." 

The   bard    believed    in   baptismal    salvation   by 

immersion,  and   hence  he  makes  Beatrice  exhort 

Christians : 

*'  Be  ye  more  staid, 
O  Christians ;  not,  like  feather,  bj"  each  wind 
Removable ;  nor  think  to  cleanse  yourselves 
In  every  water." 

He  says  of  himself: 

"  I  return'd 
From  the  most  holy  w^ave,  regenerate, 
E'en  as  new  plants  renew'd  with  foliage  new, 
Pure  and  made  apt  for  mounting  the  stars." 

The  Vision  of  Pierce  Plowman,  <»f  the  fourteenth 

century,  has  the  following : 

"  Trojanus  was  a  true  knight,  and  toke  never  Christendom, 
And  he  is  safe,  sayeth  the  boke,  and  his  soule  in  heaven ; 
For  there  is  fulling  in  fonte,  and  fulling  in  blud  shading, 
And  through  fire  is  fullynge,  that  is  firm  believe." 


184  IMMERSION. 

This  style  of  writing  was  common  before  the 
Reformation.  Baptism  is  here  called  fulled,  which 
was  performed  in  a  baptistery,  and  of  course  by 
immersion.    The  following  is  from  the  same  work : 

"  Quod  he, 
May  no  medicine  on  mold  the  man  to  heal  brj'nge, 
Neither  faith  ne  sine  hope,  so  festered  he  hys  wounds, 
Wythout  the  bloud  of  a  barne  bore  of  a  mayden, 
And  he  bathed  in  that  blood  baptized  as  it  were 
Than  plastered  with  penance,  and  passion  of  that  baby, 
He  should  stand  and  step,  and  stalworth  he  never 
Till  he  have  eaten  all  the  barne,  and  his  bloud  drunken." 

The  celebrated  Lodovico  Ariosto,  who  composed 
his  Orlando  Furioso  A.  D.  1504,  understood  bap- 
tism as  a  dipping.     Of  one  of  his  heroes  he  says : 

"  On  the  portentious  bridge  he  meant  to  meet 
Whatever  champion  dar'd  the  pass  to  try, 
And  send  the  warrior  and  his  steed  to  fleet 
Down  the  deep  flood  that  swept  his  castle  by. 

His  falling  foe  the  Algerine  compell'd 

To  quaff  at  large  the  cool  and  tein])'rate  flood, 

For  that  Circean  draught  that  late  impell'd 

His  cruel  hand  to  shed  a  virgin's  blood. 

As  if  that  baptismal  rite  could  ease  his  inward  load. 

Fool,  to  suppose  that  the  surge  could  wash  away 

The  bloody  orgies  of  the  venom'd  bowl ; 

Yet  many  a  knight  who  fought  the  dubious  fray 

By  turns  were  sent  adown  the  fl<^od  to  roll." 

Pollok,  in  speaking  of  the  loss  of  freedom,  says 
of  some  who  defended  slavery : 


WHAT   THE    POETS   SAY.  185 

"  Of  Christian  parentage  descended,  too, 
And  dipped  in  the  baptismal  font,  as  sign 
Of  dedication  to  the  Prince  who  bowed 
To  death,  to  set  the  sin-bound  prisoner  free." 

The  pious  Isaac  Watts  sings : 

*'  Do  we  not  know  that  solemn  word, 
That  we  are  buried  with  the  Lord  ? 
Baptized  into  his  death,  and  then 
Put  off  the  body  of  our  sin." 

Cowper  in  his  Task  says  of  Philosophy : 

"  Philosophy  baptiz'd 
In  the  pure  fountain  of  eternal  love, 
Has  eyes  indeed." 

And  who  has  not  sung  the  words  of  this  poet : 

'*  There  is  a  fountain  filled  with  blood 
Drawn  from  Imuianuel's  veins; 
And  sinners,  plunged  beneath  that  tlood. 
Lose  nil  their  guilty  stains." 

This  plunging  in  the  blood  of  Christ  has  a  fit 
emblem  in  buried  with  Christ  in  ba2:)tism. 

The  classical  expression  *^  baptized  in  sleep"  is 
well  explained  by  Cowper : 

"  Immersed  in  soft  repose  ambrosial." 

Virgil  sings  of  the  Greeks  taking  Troy : 
"  They  invade  the  city  buried  in  sleep  and  wine." 

Pope  in  his  Odyssey  translates  the  root  of  bap- 
tize to  plunge.     When  the  eyes  of  Polyphemus  are 


186  IMMERSION. 

bored  out  with  a  red-hot  iron,  he  compares  it  with 

a  smith  tempering  his  steel : 

"As  when  armourers  temper  in  the  ford 
The  keen  edge  pole-axe,  or  the  shming  sword, 
The  red-hot  metal  hisses  in  the  lake, 
Thus  in  the  eye-ball  hissed  the  plunging  stake." 

Pope  thus  relates  the  death  of  one  of  Homer's 
heroes : 

"  Plunged  in  his  throat  the  smoking  weapon  lies." 

Mr.  Dryden  likewise  expresses  the  poet's  sense 

thus  in  the  ^neid : 

"Thus  having  said,  her  smouldering  torch  unpress'd, 
With  her  full  force  she  plunged  into  his  breast." 

Aratus,  describing  the  setting  of  the  constel- 
lation Cepheus  in  latitude  sixty-nine  or  seventy 
degrees,  calls  it  baptizing  or  plunging  his  upper 
parts  into  the  sea;  and,  "also  if  the  sun  baptizes 
himself  without  a  cloud  into  the  western  sea." 
These  expressions  are  often  found  in  the  poets. 
Virgil,  as  translated  by  Dryden,  in  speaking  of 
the  Greater  and  Lesser  Bears,  says  they — 

"  By  fate's  decree 
Abhor  to  dive  beneath  the  northern  sea." 

Homer  tells  of  a  hero  who  was — 

"  Like  the  red  star  that  fires  the  autumnal  skies, 
When  fresh  he  rears  his  radiant  orb  to  sight. 
And  bath'd  in  orean  shoots  a  keener  light." 


WHAT    THE    POETS    SAY.  187 

And  Bickersteth  says : 

"  The  sun, 
Who  climbing  the  meridian  steep  of  heaven, 
Shone  with  a  monarch's  glory,  till  he  dipp'd 
His  footsteps  in  the  ruddy  western  waves." 

And  again : 

"  It  was  golden  eventide.    The  sun 
Was  sinking  through  the  roseate  clouds  to  rest 
Beneath  the  western  waves." 

Bickersteth  in  that  beautiful  poem,  "Yesterday, 
To-day,  and  Forever,'^  speaks  thus  of  the  work  of 

the  Baptist: 

"  Jerusalem 
Hurried  to  Jordan.     '  Ah,  what  deeds  of  wrong 
Lips,  counted  by  their  fellows  as  pure  as  babes, 
Flung  then  upon  startled  winds !     What  filth 
Was  wash'd  away  from  penitential  hearts 
In  that  baptismal  stream.'  " 

Of  the  baptism  of  Jesus  he  says  : 

"John,  abash'd, 
Shrank  from  the  suit  he  urged.     But  he  refused 
Refusal.     And,  as  from  the  shallow  ford 
Returning,  on  the  bank  he  knelt  in  prayer." 

The  poet  also  throws  light  on  the  much  disputed 

passage,  Rev.  xix :  13 :  "  And  he  was  clothed  in  a 

vesture  dipped  in  blood/'     He  says : 

"Who  knows  not 
The  loves  of  David  and  young  Jonathan, 
When  in  unwitting  rivalry  of  hearts 
The  son  of  Jesse  won  a  nobler  wreath 
Than  garlands  pluck'd  in  war  and  dipp'd  in  blood." 


188  rMMKHSlON. 

In   another  passage    he   expressly   refers   to  this 

passage : 

"  The  Lord  of  hosts, 
Apparell'd  in  a  vesture  dipp'd  in  blood." 

John  the  Baptist  said  that  Christ,  when  he  came, 
would  baptize  the  wicked  in  the  fires  of  hell.  Bick- 
ersteth  in  the  '*  Millennial  Sabbath "  catches  the 
spirit  of  this  when  he  describes  how  God  utterly 
ruined  some  of  the  fallen  angels : 

"He  hurled  them  down 
Like  meteors  through  the  lurid  vault,  and  fix'd 
Their  adamantine  fetters  to  a  rock 
Of  adamant,  submerged,  not  consumed, 
Beneath  the  lake  of  fire." 

And  the  wicked  sank — 

"  Btiil  down,  still  ever  down,  from  deep  to  deep, 
Into  the  outer  darkness,  till  at  last 
The  fiery  gulf  received  them,  ami  they  plunged 
Beneath  Gehennah's  sulphureous  waves 
In  the  abyss  of  ever  enduring  woe." 

This  poet  also  gives  us  a  significant  exposition 
of  the  "  ba})tism  of  suffering  '^ : 

"The  Sun 
Of  Righteousness,  with  healing  in  his  winga, 
Has  risen  upon  a  world  weary  of  night: 
Most  glorious,  when  euiergent  from  the  Hood 
That  from  far  Lebanon  to  Kadesh  roll'd 
Its  waves  of  fire  baptismal,  Zion  rose 
In  perfect  Ix'uuty." 


WHAT    THE    POETS    SAY.  189 

Moore,  ever  popular  with  many,  adds  his  testi- 
mony. Julian,  in  his  ode  to  Cupid,  says  he  caught 
the  boy,  baptized  him  in  wine,  and  drank  him. 
Moore  thus  sings  of  this  event : 

"  I  caught  him  by  his  downy  wing, 
And  whelm'd  him  in  the  racy  spring : 
Ah,  then  I  drank  the  poison'd  bowl, 
And  love  now  nestles  in  my  soul." 

The  classic  "  baptized  in  wine  "  is  explained  by 
Moore.     He  says  of  wine,  personified  as  Bacchus, 

that— 

"  To  my  inmost  love  he  glides, 
And  bathes  it  with  his  ruby  tides." 

I  now  refer  to  the  immortal  Milton.  The  Arch- 
angel Michael  is  explaining  to  Adam  the  plan  of 
salvation,  and  finally  tells  him  of  the  great  com- 
mission, when  he  says  : 

"  Them  who  shall  believe. 
Baptizing  in  the  profluent  stream,  the  sign 
Of  washing  them  from  guilt  of  sin  to  life 
Pure,  and  in  mind  prepar'd,  if  so  befall, 
For  death,  like  that  which  the  Redeemer  died." 

The  last  quotation  is  from  Paradise  Lost;  this 
one  is  from  Paradise  Regained.  Satan  sees  the 
thousands  coming  to  the  baptism  of  John,  and  in 
alarm  he  speaks  of  Christ  to  his  hosts : 

"  Before  Him  a  great  prophet,  to  proclaim 
His  coming,  is  sent  Harbinger,  w  ho  all 


190  IMMEHSIOX. 

Invites,  and  in  the  consecrated  stream 
Pretends  to  wash  off  sin,  and  fit  them  so 
Purified  to  receive  Him  pure,  or  rather 
To  do  Him  honor  as  their  kin<r;  all  come, 
And  he  himself  among  them  was  baptized  ; 
Not  thence  to  be  more  pure,  but  to  receive 
The  testimony  of  heaven,  that  who  He  is 
Thenceforth  the  nations  may  not  doubt.    I  saw 
The  prophet  do  him  reverence,  on  Him  rising 
Out  of  the  water,  heaven  above  the  clouds 
Unfold  her  crystal  doors,  thence  on  His  head 
A  perfect  dove  descends,  whate'er  it  meant." 

Christ,  while  meditating  in  the  wilderness,  speaks 
of  this  transaction : 

(The  Baptist)— "first 
Refused  on  me  his  baptism  to  confer, 
As  much  his  greater,  and  was  hardly  won  ; 
But  as  I  rose  out  of  the  laving  stream 
Heaven  open'ed  her  eternal  doors." 

Among  the  Greeks  bapto  was  used  with  the  sig- 
nification "to  dye,"  because  dyeing  was  done  by 
dipping.  So  Milton  has  used  it  in  his  beautiftil 
description  of  the  angel  Raphael : 

"  The  middle  pair  of  his  wings 
Girt  like  a  starry  zone  his  waist,  and  round 
Skirted  his  loins  and  thighs  with  downy  gold 
And  colors  dipped  in  heaven." 

Bickersteth  has  the  same  idea : 

"  The  stones 
Of  purest  crystal  are  from  gloomiest  mines  ; 
The  tenderest  pearls  are  won  from  roughest  seas  ; 


WHAT    THE    P0ET8    SAY.  191 

And  stars  of  colors  dipp'd  in  Iris'  vats 
Beam  from  unfathomable  distances 
Ere  they  disclose  their  radiance." 

I  might  add  other  names  and  extracts,  but  these 
are  sufficient. 


192  IMMERSION. 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 

WHAT  THE  GREEK  CHURCH  SAYS. 

T  HAVE  shown  in  former  chapters  that  baptize 
-*-  in  classic  Greek,  in  the  Septuagint,  in  the  New 
Testament,  and  in  the  Greek  fathers,  means  to  dip. 
The  Greek  Church  practices  dipping  to-day,  and 
has  never  held  to  any  other  form  of  baptism.  I 
present  the  practice  of  the  Greek  Church  as  an 
unanswerable  argument  in  faver  of  immersion. 
We  will  consider: 

1.  Ancient  and  modern  Greek  is  substantially 
the  same  language  in  structure  and  in  words.  In 
twenty-five  hundred  years  there  has  been  but  little 
variation  in  this  language.  This  point  alone  is 
enough  to  put  the  whole  baptismal  controversy  at 
rest. 

Upon  the  harmony  of  ancient  and  modern  Greek 
I  give  the  testimony  of  two  among  the  foremost 
teachers  of  Greek  in  this  country,  and  what  they 
state  is  confirmed  by  scholars  in  Germany,  England 
and  America. 

Prof.  A.  F.  Fleet,  LL.  D.,  for  many  years  pro- 
fessor of  Greek  in  the  State  University  of  Missouri, 


WHAT   THE    GREEK    CHURCH    SAYS.  193 

and  who  spent  much  time  in  Athens  in  the  study 
of  this  language,  writes  me : 

Mexico,  Mo.,  Jan.  26th,  1891. 
Rev.  J.  T.  Christian,  Jacksouj  Miss.  : 

Dear  Sir, — In  answer  to  yours  of  the  17th  inst., 
I  would  say  that  the  modern  Greek  language  is 
substantially  the  same  in  structure  and  in  words 
as  that  spoken  and  written  by  the  ancient  Greeks. 
As  I  have  frequently  said  in  public  and  in  private, 
Socrates  and  Plato,  Xenophon  and  Demosthenes, 
and  even  Homer  himself,  might  to-day  sit  at  the 
foot  of  the  Acropolis  and  read  the  morning  paper 
published  in  Athens  with  comparatively  little  dif- 
ficulty. There  has  been  less  change  in  the  Greek 
language  within  the  past  2,300  years  than  in  the 
English  within  the  past  500. 

With  regards,  I  am,  very  truly, 

A.  F.  Fleet. 

Prof.  Addison  Hogue,  Professor  of  Greek  in  the 
University  of  Mississippi,  and  author  of  a  learned 
work  on  Attic  Prose,  writes: 

Oxford,  Miss.,  Jan.  2l8t,  1891 
Rev.  J.  T.  Christian,  D.  D.  : 

My  Dear  Sir, — Yours  of  the  ITt^h  is  post  marked 
the  20th,  and  was  received  by   me  this  morning, 


194  IMMERSION. 

which  will  explain  what  might  seem  a  tardiness  in 
replying. 

My  answer  is,  modern  Greek  is  substantially  the 
same  as  the  old  Greek:  it  is  far  more  like  the 
Greek  of  2,200  years  ago  than  modern  English  is 
like  the  English  of  500  years  ago.  English  has 
taken  in  numerous  words  from  outside  languages  ; 
modern  Greek  has  naturally  a  great  many  Turkish 
words;  and  the  language  as  spoken  among  the 
uneducated  people,  and  the  colloquial  Romaic,  has 

departed  very  widely  from  the  old  classical  stand- 
ard. But  the  written  language  is  amazingly  like 
what  Greek  used  to  be.  A  modern  Greek  news- 
paper is  easy  to  read,  provided  one  can  read  an- 
cient Greek  with  ease.  Children's  school  books 
show  the  same  similarity;  and  the  foreign  words 
of  which  I  spoke  are  by  no  means  so  numerous  as 
might  be  supposed. 

If  Xcnophon  were  handed  in  the  "Islands  of  the 
Blessed,"  the  paper  I  send  you,  it  would  give  him 
the  least  trouble  in  the  world  to  read  it,  though  he 
would  naturally  wonder  who  had  been  tampering 
with  his  good  old  Greek.  You  may  use  this  as 
you  like. 

Command  me  further  if  I  can  be  of  service. 
Yours,  very  truly,  Addison  Hoguk. 


WHAT   THE   GREEK    CHURCH    SAYS.  195 

Having  sufficiently  emphasized  the  fact  that 
ancient  and  modem  Greek  is  the  same  language,  I 
now  pass  to  the  proof  that  the  Greek  Church  now 
practices  immersion. 

2.  The  use  of  t]\o  l•ln^•llago.  I  nunn  \>y  use 
the  common,  every-day  acceptation  of  words.  The 
v/ord  baptize  is  in  constant  use  among  the  Greeks. 
A  modern  Greek  writer  on  natural  philosophy 
repeatedly  employs  the  word.  In  explaining  the 
method  of  determining  specific  gravity,  he  says  we 
first  weigh  the  body,  then  immerse  it  in  water,  and 
then  weigh  it,  thus  suspended  by  a  cord.  The 
Minerva^  an  Athenian  newspaper,  in  explaining  the 
explosive  gun-cotton  which  caused  such  a  noise  in 
the  world  thirty  years  ago,  says:  ^'Common  cot- 
ton, well  cleansed,  is  taken,  which,  being  immersed 
{baptizemeno7i)  for  about  half  a  minute  in  strong 
nitric  acid,  &c."  Cereas,  the  most  learned  of 
modern  Greek  writers,  says:  "  Right<}ousne6S  for- 
bids a  man  to  dip,  (baptize  in)  his  pen  in  the  filth 
of  flattery."  The  Age,  another  Athenian  newspaper, 
says:  "The  Papists  verily  believe  that  they  are 
being  saved  by  sprinkling  {rantizomenoi),  and  not 
by  being  baptized  (baptizomenoi).^' 

3.  The  ritual  and  catechism  of  the  Greek 
Church.  The  best  way  to  tell  what  a  church 
practices,  is  to  study  their   ritual  and  catechism  ; 


196  IMMEKSIOX. 

and  I  propose  to  let  the  ritual  and  catechism  of 
the  Greek  Church  speak  for  itself:  "  The  servant 
(handmaid)  of  God,  N.,  is  baptized  in  the  name  of 
the  Father,  amen ;  and  of  the  Son,  amen ;  and  of 
the  holy  Ghost,  amen ;  now  and  ever,  and  to  ages 
of  ages.  At  each  invocation  he  immerses  the  can- 
didate and  raises  him  again."  (Offic.  Orien.  Ch. 
p.  94.)  And  hence  the  Russian  catechism  reads: 
*^  This  they  hold  to  be  a  point  necessary y  that  no 
part  of  the  child  be  undipped  in  water." 

4.  The  Lexicons.  Prof.  Sophocles,  a  native 
Greek,  Avho  long  ably  filled  the  chair  of  Greek  in 
Harvard  University,  published  a  lexicon  of  the 
Roman  and  Byzantine  periods,  ^*  extending  from 
B.  C.  140  to  A.  D.  1100."  He  defines  baptize  "  to 
dip,  to  immerse,  to  sink."  On  the  New  Testa- 
ment meaning  of  the  word,  he  remarks :  "  There 
is  no  evidence  that  Luke  and  Paul,  and  other 
writers  of  the  New  Testament,  put  upon  this  verb 
meanings  not  recognized  by  the  Greeks." 

In  a  French  and  Greek  lexicon,  published  in 
Athens,  in  1842,  the  French  word  immerse  is  de- 
fined by  three  Greek  words,  emhapsis^  baptisis^ 
katadusis,  "  dip  in,  dip,  sink  under." 

In  an  English-Greek  lexicon,  published  in  Cer- 
fee,  in  1827,  the  word  "  immerge  "  is  translated  by 


AV^HAT   THE   GREEK    CHURCH    SAYS.  197 

"baptize."  This  was  done  by  a  zealous  defender 
of  infant  sprinkling. 

5.  The  testimony  of  native  Greeks.  The  Greeks 
certainly  ought  to  know  what  their  own  language 
teaches,  and  has  always  taught.  They  are  unani- 
mous in  their  verdict,  that  baptize  means  to 
immerse.  I  will  give  the  testimony  of  a  few  dis- 
tinguished Greeks : 

The  Bishop  of  Cyclades  says:  "The  word  bap- 
tize, explained,  means  a  veritable  dipping,  and,  in 
fact,  a  perfect  dipping.  An  object  is  baptized 
when  it  is  completely  co^vered.  This  is  a  proper 
explanation  of  the  word  baptizoJ^ 

Bishop  Platon,  of  Moscow,  Pres.  State  of  Greek 
Ch.,  Edinburg,  1814,  says:  "The  Greeks  and 
Russians  always  use  the  trine  immersion." 

Alex,  de  Stourdza,  Russian  State  Counselor, 
says :  "  The  Church  of  the  West  has,  then,  de- 
parted from  the  example  of  Jesus  Christ;  and 
has  obliterated  the  whole  sublimity  of  the  ex- 
terior sign;  in  short,  she  commits  an  awful 
abuse  of  words  and  of  ideas  in  practicing  bap- 
tism by  aspersion,  the  very  term  being,  in  itself, 
a  derisive  contradiction.  The  verb  baptize,  im~ 
mergo,  has,  in  fact,  but  one  sole  acceptation.  It 
signifies,  literally  and  always,  to  plunge.  Baptism 
and  immersion  are,  therefore,  identical,  and  to  say 


198  IMMERSION. 

baptism  by  aspersion  is  as  if  one  should  say,  im- 
mersion by  aspersion,  or  any  other  absurdity  of  the 
same  nature/'    (Con.  sur  LaDoc.  et  U  Esprit,  p.  87.) 

Prof.  Timayenis,  a  native  Greek  of  the  Hellenic 
Institute,  N.  Y.,  in  a  lecture  at  Chautauqua,  in 
1881,  speaking  of  the  Greek  religion,  said:  "The 
Greeks  baptize,  of  course — they  baptize  in  the  real 
way.  The  Greek  word  haptizo  means  nothing  but 
immerse  in  the  water.  Baptism  means  nothing  but 
immersion.  In  the  Greek  language  we  have  a 
different  word  for  sprinkling.  When  you  put  a 
piece  of  wood  into  the  water,  and  cover  it  entirely, 
you  baptize,  you  do  what  is  expressed  by  the 
Greek  word  baptizo.  I  am  ready  to  discuss  this 
with  any  divine  about  the  Greek  word.  Sprinkling 
is  not  what  the  Bible  teaches;  that  is  a  fact  that 
you  may  depend  on.'^ 

The  Rev.  Nicholas  Bjerring,  of  New  York, 
in  his  Offices  of  the  Oriental  Church,  1884,  re- 
marks: "Baptism  is  celebrated  sometimes  in  the 
church  and  sometimes  in  private  houses,  as  need 
may  be.  It  is  always  administered  by  dipping  the 
infant,  or  adult,  three  times  into  the  water.*' 
(p.  13.) 

Prof  N.  Bonwetsch,  of  Dorpat  University, 
writes  me  under  date  of  May  5th,  1890:  "As  far 
as  the  ceremony  of  the  Greek-Russian  Church  is 


WHAT    THE   GREEK   CHURCH   SAYS.  199 

concerned,  immersion  is  the  only  method  used  in 
baptizing," 

Dr.  A.  Diomedes  Kyriasko,  of  the  University 
of  Athens,  Greece,  writes  to  Rev.  C.  G.  Jones,  of 
Lynchburg,  Va.,  as  follows: 

Athens,  Aug.,  1890. 

Dear  Sir, — The  verb  baptizo,  in  the  Greek  lan- 
guage, never  has  the  meaning  of  to  pour  or  to 
sprinkle,  but  invariably  that  of  to  dip.  In  the 
Greek  Church,  both  in  its  earliest  times  and  in  our 
days,  to  baptize  has  meant  to  dip.  It  is  through 
this  process  that  our  church  baptizes,  and  always 
has  baptized  both  infants  belonging  to  Christian 
families  and  adults  turning  from  any  other  religion 
to  Christianity,  i.  e.,  by  dipping  them  thrice  in  the 
water.  Thus  also  meaning  by  dipping,  used  by  the 
Apostles,  to  baptize.  Were  it  not  so  Paul  could 
not  have  compared  baptizing  to  the  death  of 
Christ,  saying  that  in  baptism  we  are  buried  with 
Christ,  and  arisen  with  him ;  that  is  to  say,  the 
old  man  in  us  has  been  buried,  and  the  new  man 
fashioned  according  to  the  likeness  of  Christ  risen 
again.  Since  baptism,  therefore,  by  the  cleansing 
«^f  the  soul,  this  idea  can  only  be  clearly  represented 
by  the  entire  dipping  of  the  body  into  water,  and 
not  by  sprinkling  or  pouring.     Yours  truly, 

Dr.  a.  Diomedes  Kyriasko,  Professor. 


200  IMMERSION. 

6.  Scholars  of  other  communions  fully  confirm 
the  Greeks  in  this  testimony.  Dr.  W.  D.  Powell, 
who  has  just  returned  from  Athens,  says  in  the 
Western  Recorder^  under  date  of  January  8th, 
1891.*  "One  of  the  Professors  (in  the  University 
of  Athens)  brought  two  Greek  and  English  Lexi- 
cons, one  T  remember  was  by  Dr.  Sophocles,  who 
was  a  Professor  in  Harvard  University  for  twenty - 
eight  years,  and  both  lexicons  rendered  the  word 
to  dip,  to  plunge,  to  immerse. 

"I  asked  the  Professors  what  the  word  baptizo 
meant  in  Latin,  and  they  replied,  '  submergcrc.^ 
I  enquired  furthermore  what  it  meant  in  Spanish, 
and  they  said  ^immersion.' 

"An  intelligent  Greek  said:  ^ Don't  ask  me, 
ask  any  common  laborer  you  meet  on  the  street 
and  he  will  tell  you.'  So  when  I  returned  to  the 
hotel  I  requested  the  head-waiter,  who  was  a 
Frenchman,  to  ask  the  porter  what  the  word  Z>ap- 
tizo  meant.  He  replied,  that  it  meant  ^  to  put 
under  the  water  and  to  take  out  of  the  water.'" 

The  Episcopalians  bear  witness  to  the  fact  that 
the  Greek  Church  immerses.  Two  witnesses  are 
sufficient. 

Dean  Stanley  wrote  a  book  upan  the  Eastern 
Church,  and  in  it  he  says :  "  There  can  be  no 
(piestion   that   the   original    form   of  baptism — the 


WHAT    THE  GREEK    CHURCH    SAYS.  201 

very  meaning  of  the  word — was  complete  immer- 
sion in  the  deep  baptismal  waters ;  and  that,  for  at 
least  four  centuries,  any  other  form  was  either  un- 
known, or  regarded  in  the  case  of  dangerous  ill- 
ness, as  an  exceptional,  almost  a  monstrous  case. 
To  this  .form  the  Eastern  Church  still  rigidly  ad- 
heres ;  and  the  most  illustrious  and  venerable  por- 
tion of  it,  that  of  the  Byzantine  Empire,  absolutely 
repudiates  and  ignores  any  other  mode  of  adminis- 
tration as  essentially  invalid."  (East.  Ch.,  p.  117.) 
Dr.  Wall  says:  "The  Greek  Church,  in  all 
branches  of  it,  does  still  use  immersion ;  and  they 
hardly  count  a  child,  except  in  case  of  sickness 
well  baptized  without  it.  And  so  do  all  other 
Christians  in  the  world,  except  the  Latins.''  (Hist. 
Inft.  Bap.,  vol.  1,  p.  589.) 

The  Presbyterians  give  their  testimony : 
Dr.  Schaff  says :  "  The  Oriental  and  the  Or- 
thodox Russian  churches  require  even  a  three- 
fold immersion,  in  the  name  of  the  trinity,  and 
deny  the  validity  of  any  other.  They  look  upon 
the  Pope  of  Rome  as  an  unbaptized  heretic,  and 
would  not  recognize  the  single  immersion  of  the 
Baptists.  The  Longer  Russian  Catechism  thus 
defines  baptism :  *  A  sacrament  in  which  a  man 
who  believes,  having  his  body  thrice  plunged  in 
water,  in  the   name   of  God.  the  Father,  the  Son, 


202  IMMERSION. 

and  the  Holy  Ghost,  to  a  life  spiritual  and  holy.' 
Marriott,  (in  Smith  and  Cheatham,  i:  161)  says: 
^  Triple  immersion,  that  is  thrice  dipping  the 
head  whilst  standing  in  the  water,  was  the  all  but 
universal  rule  of  the  church  in  early  times.'" 
(Hist.  Ch.  Church,  vol.  1,  p.  468,  note.) 

Prof.  Moses  Stuart,  of  Andover,  says :  "  The 
mode  of  baptism  by  immersion,  the  Oriental  Church 
has  always  continued  to  preserve,  even  down  to  the 
present  time.  The  members  of  this  church  are 
accustomed  to  call  the  members  of  the  Western 
churches,  sprinkled  Christians,  by  way  of  ridicule 
and  contempt."     (On  Bapt.,  p.  151.) 

The  Methodists  join  in  proving  the  same  thing. 

Dr.  Bennett,  whose  work  is  edited  and  endorsed 
by  Bishop  Hurst  and  Dr.  Crooks,  says:  "The 
Greek  Church  adheres  to  trine  immersion  with 
great  tenacity,  and  to-day  practices  this  mode  in 
all  its  chief  churches."     (Arch.  p.  408.) 

Prof  Bonet-Maurey,  of  the  Theological  Fac- 
ulty, Paris,  France,  writes  me:  "Baptism  by 
immersion  is  still  practiced  by  all  the  diiferent 
orthodox  Greek  churches  of  the  East." 

I  could  add  many  other  learned  witnesses,  but 
these  are  sufficient.  They  include  some  of  the 
brightest  lights  of  P]uropc  and  America.  Here  is 
the  testimony  of  the  Greek  Church   as   given   by 


WHAT   THE   GREEK   CHURCH   SAYS.  203 

itself,  and  its  representative  men;  and  the  most 
bcholarly  Episcopalians,  Presbyterians  and  Meth- 
odists confirm  this  view.  Some  of  these  men  have 
only  recently  investigated  this  subject  and  give  us 
overwhelming  facts.  Here  is  a  church  that  speaks 
the  language  that  the  New  Testament  was  written 
in,  a  people  that  have  the  very  words  that  Christ 
selected  to  designate  the  ordinance  of  baptism,  in 
constant  use.  Above  all,  they  have  practiced  im- 
mersion since  the  days  of  Christ.  This  proof  to  a 
candid  mind  is  unanswerable. 


204  IMMERSION. 


CHAPTER  XXV. 

WHAT  THE  CATHOLICS  SAY. 

rpHOMAS  AQUINAS,  the  great  Catholic  Di- 
vine  of  the  Middle  Ages,  who  died  1274,  ap- 
}>ears  to  have  been  the  first  person  in  the  Catholic 
Church  who  took  the  ground  that  affusion  under 
ordinary  circumstances  would  answer  for  baptism. 
Yet  he  did  not  think  it  so  good  as  immersion.  He 
also  said  that  "  by  immersion  the  burial  with  Christ 
is  more  vividly  represented ;  therefore,  this  is  the 
more  common  and  commendable  way."  He  also 
declares  it  to  be  safer.  His  contemporary,  Bona- 
ventura,  says  that  "the  way  of  dipping  into  water 
is  the  more  common,  and  the  fitter  and  the  safer." 
This  opinion  favoring  sprinkling,  however,  was  not 
endorsed  by  any  Council  or  Pope.  It  was  not  till 
the  Council  of  Ravenna  that  sprinkling  was  de- 
clared to  be  indifferent.  This  was  the  first  ofliciiil 
action  of  the  Catholic  Church. 

The  foremost  Catholic  scholars  have  no  hesita- 
tion in  declaring  that  the  Scripture  act  of  baptism 
was  by  immersion.  I  give  the  testimony  of  some 
unimpeachable  witnesses. 

Dr.  Dollingerj  of  Bonn  University,  who  recently 


WHAT   THE   CATHOLICS    SAY.  205 

«lied  at  a  ripe  old  age,  says:  "At  first  Christian 
baptism  commonly  took  place  in  the  Jordan;  of 
course,  as  the  church  spread  more  widely,  also  in 
private  houses.  Like  that  of  St.  John,  it  was  by 
immersion  of  the  whole  person,  which  is  the  only 
meaning  of  the  New  Testament  word.  A  mere 
pouring  or  sprinkling  was  never  thought  of." 
(First  Age  of  Christ  and  Ch.  p.  318.)  He  also 
says  in  his  Church  History,  vol.  2,  p.  294 :  "  Bap- 
tism was  administered  by  an  entire  immersion  in 
water.'' 

Arnoldi  says:  ^'Baptizein,  to  immerse,  to  sub- 
inerge.  It  was  as  being  an  entire  submersion 
under  the  water,  since  washings  were  already  a 
confession  of  impurity  and  a  symbol  of  purifica- 
tion—the confession  of  entire  impurity  and  a 
symbol  of   entire  purification."     (Com.  on  Math. 

iii :  6.) 

Dupin  says:  "They  plunged  those  three  times 
in  the  water  when  they  baptized."  (Hist.  vol.  2, 
p.  77,  3d  century.) 

Paul  Maria  Paciandi,  the  great  antiquarian, 
wrote  a  most  learned  book,  which  he  dedicated  to 
Pope  Benedict  XIV.,  and  it  was  published  by 
the  authority  of  the  Pope.  He  says  of  the  repre- 
sentations of  pouring  on  the  head  of  the  Savior, 
in  the  picture  at  Ravenna,  that  "  Nothing  can  be 


206  IMMERSION. 

more  preposterous  than  these  emblems.  Was  our 
Lord  baptized  by  aspersion?  This  is  so  far  from 
being  true,  that  nothing  can  be  more  opposite  to 
the  truth,  and  it  is  to  be  attributed  to  the  igno- 
rance and  rashness  of  workmen." 

Dr.  Joseph  De  Yicecomes,  of  Milan,  says :  "  I 
will  never  cease  to  profess  and  teach  that  only  im- 
mersion in  water,  except  in  cases  of  necessity,  is 
lawful  baptism  in  the  church.  I  will  refute  that 
false  notion  that  baptism  was  administered  in  the 
primitive  church  by  pouring  or  sprinkling."  (Ch. 
6,  Bk.  4.) 

John  Mabillon  says  that  pouring  "  Was  contrary 
to  an  express  canon  of  the  ninth  century ;  contrary 
to  the  canon  given  by  Stephen,  which  allowed 
pouring  only  in  cases  of  necessity ;  contrary  to  the 
general  practice  in  France,  where  trine  immersion 
was  used ;  contrary  to  the  practice  of  the  Spaniards, 
who  used  single  immersion ;  contrary  to  the  opinion 
of  Alwin,  who  contended  for  trine  immersion  ;  and 
contrary  to  the  practice  of  many  who  continued  to 
dip  until  the  fifteenth  century."  (Acta  Sane.  Ord. 
Ben.  par.  ii.  Proef :  c.  vii  S.  186.) 

Lewis  Anthony  Miratori,  treating  of  the  Am- 
brosian  rite  of  baptism,  as  performed  at  Milan, 
says  :  "  Observe  the  Ambrosian  manner  of  bap- 
tizing.    Now-a-days  the  priests  preserve  a  shadow 


WHAT   THE   CATHOLICS   SAY.  207 

of  the  ancient  Ambrosian  form  of  baptizing,  for 
they  do  not  baptize  by  pouring,  as  the  Romans  do ; 
but,  taking  the  infant  in  their  hands,  they  dip  the 
hinder  part  of  his  head  three  times  in  the  baptismal 
water,  in  the  form  of  the  cross,  which  is  a  vestige 
yet  remaining  of  the  most  ancient  and  universal 
practice  of  immersion."  (Atiq.  Ital.  Tom.  iv.  Dis. 
Ixvii.) 

Mattes  says :  "  In  regard  to  the  ablution  (in  bap- 
tism) the  present  practice  of  the  Latin  Church  dif- 
fers altogether  from  that  of  the  ancient  church. 
We  are  accustomed  to  perform  the  ablution  by 
sprinkling  or  by  pouring  water ;  but  the  apostles 
performed  it  by  immersion,  and  this  mode  of  bap- 
tism was  the  general  practice  until  far  into  the 
Middle  Ages."  (Kirchen-Lexicon,  art.  Taufen  of 
Wetzer  and  Welte.) 

Catholic  historians  also  declare  that  immersion 
was  the  general  practice  of  the  church  for  thirteen 
hundred  years. 

Bollinger  says :  " "  Baptism  by  immersion  con- 
tinued to  be  the  prevailing  practice  of  the  church 
}i8  late  as  the  fourteenth  century."  (Hist.  Ch.  vol. 
2,  p.  295.) 

Cardinal  Gibbons,  the  foremost  Catholic  in  the 
United  States,  says:  "For  several  centuries  after 
the  establishment  of  Christianity,  baptism  was  usu- 


208  IMMERSION. 

ally  conferred  by  immersion ;  but  since  the  twelfth 
century  the  practice  of  baptizing  by  affusion  ha-s 
prevailed  in  the  Catholic  Church,  as  this  manner 
is  attended  with  less  inconvenience  than  baptism 
by  immersion."     (Faith  of  Our  Fathers,  p.  275.) 

F.  Brenner,  in  a  very  learned  book,  says  :  "  Thir- 
teen hundred  years  was  baptism  generally  and  or- 
dinarily performed  by  the  immersion  of  a  man 
under  water,  and  only  in  extraordinary  cases  was 
sprinkling  or  affusion  permitted.  These  latter 
methods  of  baptism  were  called  in  question, 
and  even  prohibited."  (Augusti,  Denkwurd,  vii, 
,,.  68.) 

There  is  a  remarkable  difference  in  the  way 
Catholics  and  Protestants  defend  sprinkling.  Prot- 
estants try  to  prove  it  from  the  Bible ;  but  Cath- 
olics very  frankly  state  that  the  Church  changed 
the  rite  from  immersion  to  sprinkling.  Our  Pedo- 
baptist  brethren  have  no  answer  to  this  statement 
of  the  case.  The  Catholic  does  not  appeal  to  the 
Scripture,  for  it  does  not  teach  sprinkling;  but 
the  Church  has  authority  over  all  ceremonies,  and 
to  him  his  position  is  impregnable.  This  could 
be  proved  by  a  multitude  of  authors,  but  two  are 
sufficient. 

Bishop  Bossuet  says :  "  The  decision  of  Con- 
stance, in  approbation  of  and  for  retaining  com- 


WHAT   THE   CATHOLICS   SAY.  209 

munion  under  one  kind,  is  one  of  those,  wherein 
our  adversaries  think  they  have  the  most  advan- 
tage.    But  in  order  to  be  convinced  of  the  grav- 
ity and  constancy  of  the  Church  in  this  decree,  we 
need  but  remember  that  the  Council  of  Constance, 
when  they  passed  it,  had  found  the  custom  of  com- 
municating   under   one  kind  established,   beyond 
contradiction,   many  ages  before.      The  case  was 
much  the  same  as  that  of  baptism  by  immersion, 
as  clearly  grounded    on   Scripture  as  communion 
under  both  kinds  could  be,  and  which,  neverthe- 
less, had  been  changed  into  infusion,  with  as  much 
ease  and  as  little  contradiction  as  communion  un- 
der  one   kind  was  established,  so  that  tlie  same 
reason  stood  for  retaining  one  as  the  other.     It  is 
II  fact  most  certainly  avowed  in  the  Reformation, 
although  some  will  cavil   at    it,  that  baptism  was 
instituted  by  immersing  the  whole  body  into  water ; 
that  Jesus  Christ  received  it  so,  and  caused  it  to 
be   so   given   by  his  Apostles;    that  the  Scripture 
knows  no  other  baptism  than  this ;  that  antiquity 
so  understood  and  practiced   it;  that  the  word  it- 
self implies  it,  to  baptize  being  the  same  as  to  dip ; 
this   fact,  I  say,  is  unanimously  acknowledged  by 
all   the  divines  of  the   Reformation,   nay,  by  the 
Reformers   themselves,   and   those   even  who   best 

understood  the  Greek   language   and   the   ancient 
14 


210  IMMERSION. 

customs  as  well  of  the  Jews  as  Christians ;  by  Lu- 
ther, by  Melancthon,  by  Calvin,  by  Casaubon,  by 
Grotius,  by  all  the  rest,  and  lately  even  by  Jurien, 
the  most  contradictory  of  all  ministers.  Nay,  Lu- 
ther has  observed  that  the  German  word  signify- 
ing baptism  was  derived  from  thence,  and  this 
sacrament  named  Taufy  from  profundity  or  depth, 
because  the  baptized  were  deeply  plunged  into 
water."     (Varia.  Protest,  vol.  2,  p.  370.) 

The  same  views  prevail  among  Catholics  In  the 
United  States.  I  wrote  Cardinal  Gibbons  in  re- 
gard to  baptism,  and  he  at  once  referred  me  to  the 
work  of  Archbishop  Kenrick  on  that  subject  as 
authoritative  and  as  giving  the  information  I  de- 
sired. Archbishop  Kenrick  says:  ^' The  change  of 
discipline  which  has  taken  place  to  baptism  should 
not  surprise  us,  for  although  the  Church  is  but  the 
dispenser  of  the  sacraments  which  her  Divine 
Spouse  instituted,  she  rightfully  exercises  a  discre- 
tionary power  as  to  the  manner  of  their  administra- 
tion. She  can  not  change  their  substance.  Bap- 
tism essentially  consists  of  a  washing  with  water 
under  the  invocation  of  the  three  Divine  Persons. 
She  can  not  substitute  any  other  liquid,  however 
precious,  or  any  other  formulary.  The  ablution 
can  in  no  circumstances  be  dispensed  with,  but  the 
manner  of  making  it  can  be  more  or  less  solemn, 


WHAT   THE   CATHOLICS   SAY.  211 

according  to  her  wise  discretion.  Immersion  was 
well  suited  to  the  Eastern  nations,  whose  habits 
and  climate  prepared  them  for  it,  and  was  therefore 
practiced  in  the  commencement,  whenever  neces- 
sity did  not  prevent  it.  Cases,  which  at  first  were 
exceptional,  gradually  multiplied,  so  that  at  length 
the  ordinary  mode  of  baptism  was  by  aiFusion. 
The  Church  idsely  sanctioned  that  which,  although 
less  solemn,  is  equally  effectual.  The  poirer  of 
binding  and  loosing ,  which  she  received  from 
Christ,  icarrants  this  exercise  of  governing  ivisdom^ 
that  the  difference  of  times  and  places  being  con- 
sidered, condescension  may  be  used  in  regard  to  the 
mode  of  administering  the  sacraments  without  dan- 
ger to  their  integrity.  It  is  not  for  individuals 
to  question  a  right  which  has  been  at  all  times 
claimed  and  exercised  by  those  to  whom  the  dis- 
pensation of  the  mysteries  is  divinely  intrusted." 
(Kenrick  on  Bap.  p.  174.) 

In  regard  to  the  changing  of  the  ordinance,  one 
more  quotation  will  be  sufficient,  because  it  was 
approved  by  their  infallible  Pope,  Pius  IX.,  and 
hence  is  maintained  by  all  good  Catholics.  For 
whatever  the  Pope  formally  approves  can  be  quot- 
ed as  authoritative  Catholic  utterance.  Pius  IX. 
approved  Haydock's  notes  on  the  Douay  Bible. 
And    the    comment    on    Matt,    iii:    6    is:      "The 


212  IMMERSION. 

Church,  which  can  not  change  the  least  article  of 
faith,  is  not  so  tied  up  in  matters  of  discipline  and 
ceremony.  Not  only  the  Catholic  Church,  but 
also  the  pretended  reformed  churches,  have  altered 
the  primitive  custom  in  giving  the  sacrament  of 
baptism,  and  now  allow  of  baptism  by  sprinkling 
and  pouring  water  upon  the  person  baptized ;  nay, 
many  of  their  ministers  do  it  now-a-days  by  fillip- 
ing a  wet  finger  and  thumb  over  the  child's  head, 
which  it  is  hard  enough  to  call  a  baptizing  in  any 
sense/' 

While  the  Catholics  now  practice  affusion  be- 
cause the  Church  changed  the  rite,  they  have  no 
sympathy  with  that  very  foolish  idea,  "a  drop  is 
as  good  as  an  ocean,"  and  with  the  flippant  man- 
ner in  which  some  persons  administer  the  ordi- 
nance. In  addition  to  the  above  from  Haydock, 
I  would  commend  this  passage  of  Archbishop 
Kenrick  to  some  of  our  friends:  "Where  no 
water  is  applied,  it  is  absurd  to  suppose  bap- 
tism ;  where  the  application  of  the  water  is  scanty, 
and  careless,  as  when  a  few  drops  are  sprinkled 
toward  a  person,  or  the  moist  finger  is  slightly 
pressed  on  the  forehead,  there  is  great  reason  to 
fear  that  there  is  no  baptism."  (p.  5.) 


WHAT  THE   EPISCOPALIANS   SAY.  21o 


CHAPTER  XXVI. 

WHAT  THE  EPISCOPALIANS  SAY. 

npHE  testimony  of  the  Episcopalians  is  clear 
-^  and  conclusive  as  to  the  original  manner  of 
baptizing.  There  has  been  no  hesitation  among 
Episcopalian  scholars  in  declaring  that  the  Script- 
ures teach  immersion.  It  was  one  of  the  last  of 
the  Pedoba])tist  churches  that  admitted  sprinkling 
as  baptism,  and  England  was  one  of  the  very  last 
countries  that  admitted  sprinkling  for  baptism. 
Dr.  Wall,  a  very  learned  Episcopalian,  says : 

"  One  would  have  thought  that  the  cold  coun- 
tries should  have  been  the  first  that  should  have 
changed  the  custom  from  dipping  to  affusion,  be- 
cause in  cold  climates  the  bathing  of  the  body  in 
water  may  seem  much  more  unnatural  and  dan- 
gerous to  the  health  than  in  hot  ones  (and  it  is  to 
be  noted,  by  the  way,  that  all  of  those  countries 
of  whose  rites  of  baptism,  and  immersion  used  in 
it,  we  have  any  account  in  the  Scriptures  or  other 
ancient  history,  are  in  hot  climates,  where  fre- 
quent and  common  bathing  both  of  infants  and 
grown  persons  is  natural,  and  even  necessary  to 
the  health).     But  by  history  it  appears  that  the 


214  IMMERSION. 

cold  climates  held  the  custom  of  dipping  as  long 
as  any ;  for  England,  which  is  one  of  the  coldest, 
was  one  of  the  latest  that  admitted  this  alteration 
of  the  ordinary  way.  .  .  .  The  offices  or  litur- 
gies for  public  baptism  in  the  Church  of  England 
did  all  along,  so  far  as  I  can  learn,  enjoin  dipping, 
without  any  mention  of  pouring  or  sprinkling. 
The  Manuele  ad  usum  Sarum,  printed  1530,  the 
21st  of  Henry  Vlllth,  orders  thus  for  the  public 
baptisms:  'Then  let  the  priest  take  the  child  and, 
having  asked  the  name,  baptize  him  by  dipping 
him  in  the  water  thrice,'  &c.  And  John  Frith, 
writing  in  the  year  1533  a  Treatise  of  Baptism, 
calls  the  outward  part  of  it  the  plunging  down 
into  it,  and  lifting  up  again ;  which  he  often  men- 
tions, without  ever  mentioning  pouring  or  sprink- 
ling. In  the  Common  Prayer  Book  printed  in 
1549,  the  2nd  of  King  Edward  Ylth,  the  order 
stands  thus :  '  Shall  dip  it  in  the  water  thrice,*  &c., 
'  so  it  be  discreetly  and  warily  done,  saying,  N, 
I  baptize  thee,'  &c.  But  this  order  adds  :  '  And 
if  the  child  be  weak,  it  shall  suffice  to  pour  water 
upon  it,  saying  the  aforesaid  words.'  Afterward 
the  book  do  leave  out  the  word  thrice,  and  do  say, 
'  Shall  dip  it  in  the  water,  so  it  be  discreetly,'  &c., 
which  alteration  J  I  suppose,  was  made  in  the  6th 
of  Edward  the  A'Ttli,   for  then    there   was   a   new 


WHAT    THE    EPISCOPALIANS    SAY.  215 

edition  of  the  book,  with  some  light  alterations. 
And  from  thence  it  stood  unaltered  as  to  this  mat- 
ter to  the  14th  of  Charles  II."  (WalPs  Hist.  Inft. 
Bap.  vol  1,  pp.  575,  579.) 

There  need  be  nothing  more  added  to  tell  how 
sprinkling  became  the  practice  of  the  Episcopalian 
Church. 

But  as  to  the  testimony  of  Episcopalians  to  the 
primitive  act  of  baptism  I  could  give  innumerable 
names  of  the  highest  authority.  I  will  have  to 
content  myself  with  a  few  selections.  I  shall  be- 
gin with  Dr.  Wall,  whom  I  have  just  quoted  on 
another  matter. 

Dr.  Wall  says :  "  Their  general  and  ordinary 
way  was  to  baptize  by  immersion,  or  dipping  the 
person,  whether  it  was  an  infant  or  grown  man  or 
woman,  into  the  water.  This  is  so  plain  and  clear 
from  an  infinite  number  of  passages  that,  as  one 
can  not  but  pity  the  weak  endeavors  of  such  Pedo- 
baptists  as  would  maintain  the  negative  of  it,  so 
also  we  ought  to  disown  and  show  a  dislike  of  the 
profane  scoffs  which  some  people  give  to  the  English 
anti-Pedobaptists  merely  for  their  use  of  di2)ping. 
It  is  one  thing  to  maintain  that  that  circumstance  is 
not  absolutely  necessary  to  the  essence  of  baptism, 
and  another  to  go  about  to  represent  it  as  ridiculous 
and  foolish,  or  as  shameful  and   indecent;  when 


216  IMMERSION. 

it  was,  in  all  probability,  the  way  by  which  our 
blessed  Saviour,  and  for  certain  was  the  most  usual 
and  ordinary  way  by  which  the  ancient  Christians, 
did  receive  their  baptism.  I  shall  not  stay  to  pro- 
duce the  particular  proofs  of  this.  Many  of  the 
quotations  which  I  brought  for  other  purposes, 
and  do  bring,  do  evince  it.  It  is  a  great  want  of 
prudence,  as  well  as  of  honesty,  to  refuse  to  grant 
to  an  adversary  what  is  certainly  true,  and  may 
be  proved  so.  It  creates  a  jealousy  of  all  the  rest, 
one  says.''    (Hist.  Inft.  Bap.  vol.  1,  pp.  570,  571.) 

B.  H.  Kennedy,  late  Professor  of  Greek,  Cam- 
bridge, Eng.,  A.  D.  1888,  says:  "That  haptizo  and 
its  root  word  hapto,  both  of  them,  generally  mean 
to  dip,  to  immerse,  is  true ;  and  upon  this  truth  in 
part,  in  part  upon  the  fact  that  our  Lord  and  oth- 
ers, when  baptized  in  the  river  Jordan,  did  go 
down  into  the  water,  and  so  were  immersed,  the 
Christian  sect,  commonly  called  Baptists,  found 
their  practices  of  immersion.'' 

John  Henry  Blount,  M.  A.,  F.  S.  A.,  says  :  "  It 
means  dipping  or  bathing  (Naaman,  2  Kings  v: 
14,  and  Judith  xii :  7,  lxx),  the  washing  of  cups 
and  dishes  (Mark  vii :  3,  Heb.  ix  :  10) ;  also  sig- 
nifies overwhelming  sorrows  and  sufferings  (Isa. 
xxi :  4,  LXX  ;  Luke  xii :  50,  Matt,  xx  :  22).  From 
all  of  which  we  may  gather  the  meaning  of  a  thor- 


WHAT   THE   EPISCOPALIANS   SAY.  217 

ough  cleansing,  as  by  immersion  or  washing,  and 
not  by  mere  affusion  or  sprinkling  of  a  few  drops 
of  water."    (Die.  Doc.  and  His.  Theol.  Art.  Bap.) 

Charles  Wheatly,  in  his  recent  work  on  the 
Book  of  Common  Prayer,  London,  1885,  p.  349, 
says:  "However,  except  upon  extraordinary  oc- 
casions, baptism  was  seldom,  or  perhaps  never, 
administered  for  the  first  four  centuries,  but  by 
immersion  or  dipping.  Nor  is  aspersion  or  sprink- 
ling ordinarily  used,  to  this  day,  in  any  country 
that  was  never  subject  to  the  Pope.  And  among 
those  that  submitted  to  his  authority,  England  was 
the  last  place  where  it  was  received.  Though  it 
has  never  obtained,  so  far  as  to  be  enjoined,  dip^ 
ping  having  been  always  prescribed  by  the  rubric' 

Dean  Stanley  says:  "Baptism  was  not  only 
a  bath,  but  a  plunge — an  entire  submersion  in  the 
deep  water,  a  leap  as  into  the  rolling  sea  or  the 
rushing  river,  where  for  the  moment  the  waves 
close  over  the  bather's  head,  and  he  emerges  again 
as  from  a  momentary  grave ;  or  it  was  the  shock  of 
a  shower  bath — the  rush  of  water  passed  over  the 
whole  person  from  capacious  vessels,  so  as  to  wrap 
the  recipient  as  within  the  vail  of  a  splashing^  cat- 
aract. This  was  the  part  of  the  ceremony  that  the 
Apostles  laid  so  much  stress.  It  seemed  to  them 
like  a  burial  of  the  old  former  self,  and  the  rising 


218  IMMERSION. 

up  again  of  the  new  self.  So  St.  Paul  compared 
it  to  the  Israelites  passing  through  the  roaring 
waves  of  the  Red  Sea,  and  St.  Peter  to  the  passing 
through  the  deep  waters  of  the  flood.  ^  We  are 
buried/  said  St.  Paul,  '  with  Christ  by  baptism  at 
his  death ;  that  like  as  Christ  was  raised,  thus  we 
also  should  walk  in  the  newness  of  life.'  Bap- 
tism, as  the  entrance  into  the  Christian  society', 
was  a  complete  change  from  the  old  superstitions 
or  restrictions  of  Judaism,  to  the  freedom  and  con- 
fidence of  the  Gospel;  from  the  idolatries  and 
profligacies  of  the  old  heathen  world  to  the  light 
and  purity  of  Christianity.  It  was  a  change  eflected 
only  by  the  same  effort  and  struggle  as  that  with 
which  a  strong  swimmer  or  an  adventurous  diver 
throws  himself  into  the  stream  and  struggles  with 
the  waves,  and  comes  up  with  increased  energy 
out  of  the  depths  of  the  dark  abyss.''  (Christ. 
Inst.  p.  7,  8.) 

Bishop  Ellicott  says:  "Jewish  ablutions  .  .  . 
had  nothing  in  common  with  the  figurative  act 
which  portrayed  through  immersion  the  com- 
plete disappearance  of  the  old  nature,  and  by 
emerging  again,  the  beginning  of  a  totally  new 
life."     (Life  of  Christ,  p.  110.) 

Dr.  C.  Geikie  says :  '^  It  was,  hence,  impossi- 
ble to  see  a  convert  go  down  into  a  stream,  travel- 


WHAT   THE   EPISCOPALIANS   SAY.  219 

worn,  and  soiled  with  dust,  and,  after  disappearing 
for  a  moment,  emerge  pure  and  fresh,  without  feel- 
ing that  the  symbol  suited  and  interpreted  a  strong 
craving  of  the  human  heart.  It  was  no  formal 
rite  with  John.''     (Life  of  Christ,  p.  276.) 

Dean  Alford  says  :  ^'  The  baptism  was  admin- 
istered in  the  day  time,  by  immersion  of  the  whole 
person."     (Gr.  N.  T.,  vol.  1,  p.  20.) 

Edershcini  >«^ays :  "  It  was  as  if  symbolical,  in 
the  words  of  St.  Peter  (1  Pet.  iii :  21),  that  bap- 
tism had  been  a  flood,  and  he  now  emerged  from 
it,  ...  .  indicative  of  a  new  life.  Here,  at 
these  waters,  was  the  kingdom  into  which  Jesus 
had  entered  in  the  fulfillment  of  all  righteousness ; 
and  from  thence  he  emerged  as  its  heaven  desig- 
nated, heaven  qualified,  and  heaven  proclaimed 
king."     (Life  of  Christ,  vol.  1,  p.  284.) 

There  is  a  feeling  on  the  part  of  a  great  many 
eminent  Episcopalians  to  restore  the  primitive  im- 
mersion among  them.  This  is  advocated  by  many 
of  their  foremost  men.  In  1861,  Mr.  Crystal  pub- 
lished a  book  on  "  The  modes  of  Christian  Bap- 
tism," in  which  he  ardently  defended  the  return 
of  the  Episcopal  Church  to  immersion  as  the  act 
of  baptism.  Among  other  things  he  said  :  "  It  is 
evident,  1.  That  if  we  restore  immersion,  we  only 
restore  what  has  ever  been  our  theory,  so  far  back 


220  IMMERSION. 

as  the  history  of  the  Anglican  Church  extends. 
We  correct  only  a  late  and  not  primitive  practice. 
2.  Should  we  restore  the  trine  immersion  as  the 
general  practice,  we  should  have  good  reason  to 
lay  claim  to  the  only  mode  which,  so  far  as  we  can 
judge  from  all  the  testimony  which  the  early 
church  aifords,  can  lay  historically  attested  claim 
to  being  the  normal  mode  of  the  Apostles.^' 
(p.  213.) 

Bishop  Smith,  of  Kentucky,  was  a  defender  of 
immersion.  Said  he:  "We  have  only  to  go  back 
six  or  eight  hundred  years,  and  immersion  was  the 
only  mode,  except  in  case  of  the  few  baptized  on 
their  beds  when  death  was  near.  And  with  regard 
to  such  cases,  it  disqualified  its  recipient  for  holy 
orders  in  case  he  recovered.  Immersion  was  not 
only  universal  six  or  eight  hundred  years  ago,  but 
it  was  iwimitive  and  apostolic,  no  case  of  baptism 
standing  on  record  by  any  other  mode  for  the  first 
three  hundred  years,  except  the  few  cases  of  those 
baptized  clinically,  lying  in  bed.  If  any  one 
]>ractice  of  the  early  church  is  clearly  established, 
it  is  immersion."  But  Bishop  Smith  was  not  satis- 
fied with  a  mere  statement  of  the  case ;  he  desired 
a  restoration  of  the  primitive  practice.  Accord- 
ingly, he  immersed  his  own  infant  child,  having 
previously    declared   it    advisable   to    send    some 


WHAT  THE    EPISCOPALIANS   SAY.  221 

Episcopalians  to  Greece,  that  they  might  obtain 
immersion  from  those  who  had  practiced  it  in  reg- 
ular succession  from  the  Apostles,  and  on  their  re- 
turn restore  the  practice  quietly  and  without  noise 
throughout  his  communion.  (Kenrick  on  Bap. 
p.  150.) 

I  have  before  me  a  noble  letter  from  the  most 
scholarly  Bishop  of  the  Episcopal  Church  in 
America — Bishop  A.  Cleveland  Coxe,  Buffalo, 
'Sew  York.  He  is  the  editor  of  that  learned 
work  that  has  just  come  from  the  press — The 
Ante-Nicene  Fathers.  While  I  differ  from  him  in 
some  statements,  he  does  say  that  ^^  dip "  is  the 
meaning  of  the  word  baptize ;  and,  further,  that 
the  primitive  rite  of  dipping  should  be  restored  in 
all  Christian  churches.  This  is  in  every  way  so 
remarkable  that  I  give  his  letter  entire : 

Buffalo,  N.  Y.,  April  16th,  1890. 

Rev.  and  Dear  Sir, — Yours  of  the  31st  ult. 
came  to  hand  at  the  very  busiest  season  of  our 
*^  Christian  year.'^  I  have  had  no  time  since  then 
to  answer  half  of  my  letters.  I  laid  yours  aside, 
hoping  to  find  a  spare  hour  to  reply  to  it,  as  it 
merits.  I  dare  not  wait  any  longer,  and  must 
therefore  answer  in  few  words,  as  follows : 

1.  The  word  means  to  dip. 

2.  I  think  the  "sacred  writers"  used  the  word 


222  IMMERSION. 

in  the  primary  sense,  but  also  for  other  washings 
which  were  not  dippings.  So  did  also  the  class- 
ical writers,  with  great  freedom  and  variety  of 
meanings. 

3.  In  the  Church  of  England  dipping  is  even 
now  the  primary  rule.  But  it  is  not  the  ordinary 
custom.  It  survived  far  down  into  Queen  Eliza- 
beth's time,  but  seems  to  have  died  out  early  in 
the  seventeenth  century.  It  never  has  become 
obsolete.  I,  myself,  have  baptized  by  dipping 
both  adults  and  babes. 

I  ought  to  add  that  in  France  (un reformed)  the 
custom  of  dipping  became  obsolete  long  before  it 
was  disused  in  England.  But  for  this  bad  example 
my  own  opinion  is  that  dipping  would  still  pre- 
vail among  Anglicans. 

/  wish  that  all  Ohristlans  would  restore  the  primi- 
ive  practice.  I  ,«ay  this,  tho'  I  believe  the  other 
to  be  valid — as  in  the  case  of  clinic  baptism — in 
in  early  Christian  history. 

In  Christ  your  friend  and  Brother, 

A.  Cleveland  Coxe. 


WHAT   THE   PRESBYTERIA^'S   SAY.  223 


CHAPTER  XXVII. 
WHAT  THE  PRESBYTERIANS  SAY. 

A  S  to  the  original  act  of  baptism,  the  scholar- 
-^-^  ship  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  has  all  been 
on  one  side.  They  declare  that  the  original  act 
of  baptism  was  immersion.  I  shall  present  the 
statements  of  some  Presbyterians  and  give  some 
history  in  this  chapter. 

John  Calvin,  the  father  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church,  never  failed  to  testify  that  baptism  was 
an  immersion  in  water.  Says  he ;  "  The  word  bap- 
tize signifies  to  immerse,  and  it  is  certain  that  the 
rite  of  immersion  was  observed  by  the  ancient 
church."     (Inst.  Book  4,  c.  15.) 

Beza,  who  was  a  colleague  of  Calvin,  testifies : 
^'  Christ  commanded  us  to  be  baptized,  by  which 
word  it  is  certain  immersion  is  signified."  ''  To 
be  baptized  in  water  signifies  no  other  than  to  be 
immersed  in  water,  which  is  the  external  ceremony 
of  baptism." 

Zwingle,  another  of  Calvin's  associates,  said: 
^*  When  ye  were  immersed  into  the  water  of  bap- 
tism, ye  were  engrafted  into  the  death  of  Christ ; 
that   is,  the   immersion  of  your  body  into  water 


224  IMMERSION. 

was  a  sign  that  ye  ought  to  be  engrafted  into 
Christ  and  his  death,  that  as  Christ  died  and  was 
buried,  ye  also  may  be  dead  to  the  flesh  and  the 
old  man,  that  is,  to  yourselves/'  (Com.  Kom. 
vi:  3.) 

Dr.  John  Diodati,  of  Geneva,  one  of  the  most 
learned  men  of  his  times  and  a  member  of  the 
Synod  of  Dort,  says  of  the  baptism  of  John: 
"  Plunged  in  the  water  for  a  sacred  sign  and  seal 
of  the  expiation  and  remission  of  sins.''  (Annotat. 
1648,  p.  6,  vol.  2.)  On  Rom.  vi:  3,  he  says:  "  In 
baptism,  being  dipped  in  water  according  to  the 
ancient  ceremony,  it  is  a  sacred  figure  to  us  that 
sin  ought  to  be  drowned  in  us  by  God's  Spirit." 
(Vol  2,  p.  158.) 

Although  these  early  Presbyterians  were  thus 
positive  about  the  apostolic  act  of  baptism,  they 
erred  in  not  following  what  they  confessed  the 
Scriptures  thus  plainly  taught.  Calvin  took  the 
ground  that  it  was  a  matter  of  no  consequence, 
and  that  churches  ought  to  be  left  at  liberty  on 
this  question.  No  flood  gate  was  ever  opened 
wider,  and  innumerable  have  been  the  evils  that 
have  followed  from  this  position.  I  will  give  his 
theory  in  his  own  words,  as  they  are  sufficiently 
explicit:  "Wherefore  the  Church  did  grant  lib- 
erty to  herself,  since  the  beginning,  to  change  the 


WHAT   THE   PRESBYTERIANS   SAY.  225 

rites  somewhat,  excepting  the  substance.  It  is  of  no 
consequence  at  all  whether  the  person  that  is  bap- 
tized is  totally  immersed,  or  whether  he  is  merely 
sprinkled  by  an  affusion  of  water.  This  should 
be  a  matter  of  choice  to  the  churches  in  different 
regions.^'  This  is  exactly  the  Roman  Catholic 
position,  and  will  always  end  in  direct  disobedi- 
ence to  the  commands  of  Jesus  Christ. 

In  another  chapter  I  have  shown  some  of  the 
practical  workings  of  this  thing.  John  Knox  and 
many  others  were  compelled  to  flee  from  Scotland 
during  the  reign  of  bloody  Mary,  and  they  sought 
an  asylum  at  Geneva.  Here  they  enthusiastically 
accepted  the  views  of  John  Calvin.  When  they 
returned  home  they  carried  these  opinions  with 
them.  They  at  once  advocated  affusion  for  bap- 
tism instead  of  immersion.  This  idea  slowly 
grew,  and  the  people  were  much  divided.  At 
length,  when  the  Westminster  Assembly  of  Divines 
met  to  frame  a  creed  and  government  for  the 
Presbyterian  Church,  sprinkling  was  carried  over 
immersion  by  one  vot^.  The  vote  stood  25  to  24. 
The  Presbyterian  Church  came  this  near  forever 
practicing  the  apostolic  act  of  baptism,  and  yet 
there  be  some  who  defend  sprinkling  on  the 
ground  of  its  being  scriptural.     It  was  only  through 

the  influence  of  Dr.  Lightfoot,  who  was  President 
15 


226  IMMERSION. 

of  the  Assembly,   that    sprinkling   was    admitted 
at  all. 

These  are  such  interesting  statements  that  I  will 
give  the  transaction  in  the  words  of  Dr.  Light- 
foot  himself.  He  was  the  principal  actor  in  the 
matter  and  kept  a  journal,  and  so  his  testimony 
may  be  reckoned  unbiased.  Dr.  Lightfoot  said: 
"  Then  we  fell  upon  the  work  of  the  day,  which 
was  about  baptizing  'of  the  child,  whether  to  dip 
him  or  to  sprinkle.'  And  this  proposition,  '  It 
is  lawful  and  sufficient  to  besprinkle  the  child/ 
had  been  canvassed  before  our  adjourning,  and 
was  ready  now  to  vote;  but  I  spake  against  it,  as 
being  very  unfit  to  vote;  that  it  is  lawful  to 
sprinkle'  when  every  one  grants  it.  Whereupon 
it  was  fallen  upon,  sprinkling  being  granted, 
whether  dipping  should  be  tolerated  with  it.  And 
here  fell  we  upon  a  large  and  long  discourse, 
whether  dipping  were  essential,  or  used  in  the  first 
institution,  or  in  the  Jews'  custom.  Mr.  Coleman 
went  about,  in  a  large  discourse,  to  prove  tbilh  to 
be  dipping  overhead.  Which  I  answered  at  large. 
After  a  long  dispute,  it  was  at  last  put  to  the  ques- 
tion, whether  the  Directory  should  run  thus, '  The 
minister  shall  take  water,  and  sprinkle  or  pour  it 
with  his  hand  upon  the  face  or  forehead  of  the 
child;'  and  it  was  voted  so  indiflferently,  that  we 


WHAT  THE  PRESBYTERIANS  SAY.  227 

were  glad  to  count  names  twice;  for  so  many 
were  so  unwilling  to  have  dipping  excluded,  that 
the  votes  came  to  an  equality  within  one;  for  the 
one  side  were  24,  the  other  25,  the  24  for  the  re- 
serving of  dipping,  and  the  25  against  it;  and 
there  grew  a  great  heat  upon  it,  and  when  we  had 
done  all,  we  concluded  upon  nothing  in  it,  but  the 
business  was  recommitted.'' 

"Aug.  8th.  But  as  to  the  dispute  itself  about 
dipping,  it  was  thought  safe  and  most  fit  to  let  it 
alone,  and  to  express  it  thus  in  our  Directory: 
'  He  is  to  baptize  the  child  with  water,  which  for 
the  manner  of  doing  is  not  only  lawful,  but  also 
sufficient,  and  most  expedient  to  be  by  pouring  or 
sprinkling  of  water  on  the  face  of  the  child,  with- 
out any  other  ceremony.'  But  this  lost  a  great 
deal  of  time  about  the  wording  of  it."  (Works, 
vol.  13,  p.  299,  London  1824.) 

Thus  was  affiision  established  in  the  Prebyterian 
Church.  To  say  the  least,  this  is  a  very  remark- 
able history. 

But  notwithstanding  this  the  foremost  scholars 
have  always  conceded  that  immersion  is  baptisui. 
I  shall  present  the  names  of  only  a  few,  but  they  are 
all  representative  men. 

I  begin  with  the  great  Turretin,  who  was  a  Pro- 
fessor of  Theology  in  Geneva.     He  eays  :  "  For  as 


228  IMMERSION. 

in  baptism  when  performed  in  the  primitive  man- 
ner, by  immersion  and  emersion,  descending  into 
the  water,  and  again  going  out  of  it,  of  which 
descent  and  ascent  we  have  an  example  in  the 
eunuch,  Acts  viii :  38,  39;  yea,  and  wliat  is  more, 
as  by  this  rite,  when  persons  are  immersed  in  wa- 
ter, they  are  overwhelmed  and,  as  it  were,  buried, 
and  in  a  manner  buried  together  with  Christ,  and 
again  they  emerge,  seem  to  be  raised  out  of  the 
grave,  and  are  said  to  be  risen  again  with  Christ/^ 
(Works,  vol.  3,  p.  326,  Edinburg  ed.  1847.) 

Richard  Baxter,  and  the  Presbyterians  never 
had  a  greater  man,  says :  "  It  is  commonly  con- 
fessed by  us  to  the  Anabaptists,  as  our  commen- 
tators declare,  that  in  the  Apostles*  time  the  bap- 
tized were  dipped  over  head  in  the  water,  and 
this  signified  their  profession,  both  of  believing  the 
burial  and  the  resurrection  of  Christ,  and  of  their 
own  renouncing  the  world  and  flesh,  or  dying  to 
sin  and  living  to  Christ,  or  rising  again  to  newness 
of  life,  or  being  buried  and  risen  again  with  Christ, 
as  the  Apostle  expounded  in  the  forecited  texts  of 
Col.  and  Rom.  And  though  (as  before  said)  we 
have  thought  it  lawful  to  disuse  the  manner  of  dip- 
ping, and  to  use  less  water,  yet  we  presume  not  to 
change  the  use  and  signification  of  it."  (Dis.  Right 
to  Sac.  p.  70.) 


WHAT   THE   PRESBYTERIANS    SAY.  229 

Dr.  Chalmers,  after  saying,  ^'  the  original  mean^ 
ing  of  the  word  baptism  is  immersion/'  remarks : 
'^  Let  it  never  be  forgotten  of  the  Particular  Bap- 
tists of  England  that  they  form  the  denomination 
of  Fuller  and  Carey  and  Ryland  and  Hall  and  Fos- 
ter ;  that  they  have  originated  among  the  greatest 
of  all  missionary  enterprises ;  that  they  have  en- 
riched the  Christian  literature  of  our  country  with 
authorship  of  the  most  exalted  piety,  as  well  as  the 
lirst  talent  and  the  first  eloquence ;  that  they  have 
waged  a  very  noble  and  successful  war  with  the 
hydra  of  Antinomianism  ;  that  perhaps  there  is  not 
a  more  intellectual  community  of  ministers  in  our 
island,  or  who  have  put  forth  to  their  number  a 
greater  amount  of  mental  power  and  mental  activ- 
ity in  the  defense  and  illustration  of  our  common 
faith ;  and,  what  is  better  than  all  of  the  triumphs 
of  genius  or  understanding,  who,  by  their  zeal  and 
fidelity  and  pastoral  labor  among  the  congregations 
which  they  have  reared,  have  done  more  to  swell 
the  lists  of  genuine  discipleship  in  the  walks  of 
private  society,  and  thus  to  uphold  and  to  extend 
the  living  Christianity  of  our  nation."  (On  Rom. 
Lee.  14,  p.  76.) 

Dr.  Lyman  Coleman,  for  many  years  Professor 
in  Lafayette  College,  Pa.,  says :  "  We  can  not  re- 
sist the  conviction  that  this  mode  of  baptism  was 


230  IMMERSION. 

the  first  departure  from  the  teaching  and  example 

of  the  Apostles  on  this  subject It  was 

a  departure  from  their  teachings;  it  was  the  earli- 
est, for  immersion  was  unquestionably  very  early 
the  common  mode  of  baj^tism."  (Ancient  Chris. 
Ex.  p.  366.) 

Dr.  George  Campbell  was  one  of  the  most  schol- 
arly men  the  Presbyterians  ever  had.  He  says: 
'^  I  have  heard  of  a  disputant  of  this  stamp,  in  de- 
fiance of  etymology  and  use,  maintain  that  the  word 
rendered  in  the  New  Testament  baptize  means  more 
properly  to  sprinkle  than  to  plunge ;  and,  in  defi- 
ance of  all  antiquity,  that  the  former  method  was 
the  earliest,  and  for  many  centuries  the  most  gen- 
eral practice  in  baptizing.  One  who  argues  in  this 
manner  never  fails,  with  persons  of  knowledge,  to 
betray  the  cause  he  would  defend ;  and  though,  in 
respect  to  the  vulgar,  bold  assertions  generally  suc- 
ceed as  well  as  arguments,  sometimes  better,  yet  a 
candid  mind  will  disdain  to  take  the  help  of  a  false- 
hood even  in  support  of  the  truth."  (Lect.  on  Pul. 
El.  Lect.  10,  pp.  294,  295.) 

Philip  Schaff,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  Professor  of  Church 
History  in  the  Union  Theological  Seminary,  New 
York,  says ;  ^'  The  baptism  of  Christ  in  the  river 
of  Jordan,  and  tbe  illustrations  of  baptism  used  in 
the  New  Tostani'nt,  arc  all  in  favor  of  immersion 


WHAT   THE    PRESBYTERIANS   SAY.  231 

rather  than  sprinkling,  as  is  freely  admitted  by  the 
best  exegetes,  Catholic  and  Protestant,  English  and 
German.  Nothing  can  be  gained  by  unnatural  exe- 
gesis. The  aggressiveness  of  the  Bajytists  has  driven 
Pedobaptists  to  the  opposite  extreme.''^  (Teach,  pp. 
5e5,  56.) 

I  have  at  hand  a  fresh  and  new  statement  of  the 
case.  The  Southern  Presbyterians  of  the  United 
States  have  founded  three  churches  in  Greece,  and 
all  three  of  them  practice  immersion.  Dr.  W.  D. 
Powell,  of  Mexico,  recently  wrote  from  Athens, 
Greece,  as  follows :  "  I  found  that  all  churches  in 
Greece — the  Presbyterians  included — are  compelled 
to  immerse  candidates  for  baptism,  for,  as  one  of 
the  professors  remarked,  '  the  commonest  day  la- 
borer understands  nothing  else  for  baptizo  but  im- 
mersion.' Some  Greeks  who  have  made  fortunes 
in  other  countries  have  built  and  equipped  some 
fine  schools  and  colleges,  as  well  as  museums,  &c. 
The  university  has  3000  students,  of  whom  1200 
are  preparing  to  be  doctors  and  lawyers.  I  visited 
the  university  and  saw  the  magnificent  library  and 
museum.  I  asked  a  professor  what  baptizo  meant, 
and  he  said :  '  It  has  but  one  meaning — to  sub- 
merge, to  immerse.     Why  do  you  ask  ? ' '' 

In  reply  to  an  editorial  in  the  Christian  Observery 
of  Louisville,  Ky.,  Dr.  Powell  writes  to  the  West- 


232  IMMERSION. 

ern  Recorder,  Jau  8th,  1891,  as  follows:  "  I  asked 
Bro.  Sakellarios,  who  has  charge  of  the  Baptist 
Church  in  Athens,  if  the  Greek  word  could  mean 
any  thing  but  immersion,  and  he  said  *  No/  To 
my  inquiry  how  the  Presbyterians  managed  this 
question,  he  replied:  'Very  easily — by  having  a 
baptistery  made,  in  which  they  immerse  infants  just 
as  the  Greek  priests  do.'  Said  he :  '  Once  they 
sprinkled  some  children,  and  it  created  such  a 
scandal  that  it  came  near  breaking  up  the  church, 
and  they  were  compelled  to  have  a  small  baptis- 
tery  made.'  Adult  Greeks  are  received  into  the 
Presbyterian  Church  on  the  baptism  whicli  they 
received  in  the  Greek  Church.  In  Greece,  Bul- 
garia, Asia  Minor,  Syria,  Palestine,  and  wherever 
the  Greek  language  is  spoken,  immersion  for  bap- 
tism is  practiced." 

Here  is  an  instance  where  the  Presbyterians 
practice  what  their  scholars  preach.  This  is  the 
land  where  Greek  is  a  living  language,  and  noth- 
ing but  immersion  is  practiced  there.  This  little 
statement  does  away  with  many  a  ponderous  arti- 
cle written  by  our  Presbyterian  brethren  to  ex- 
plain and  defend  their  practice  on  this  subject. 
We  commend  this  to  our  Presbyterian  brethren. 


WHAT    THE    METHODISTS   SAY.  233 


CHAPTER  XXVIII. 

WHAT  THE  METHODISTS  SAY. 

nr  HAVE  been  examining  Mr.  AVesley^s  works, 
-^  and  will  give  the  result  of  my  investigation. 
Turning  to  his  journal,  vol.  1,  p.  20,  under  date 
of  Saturday,  February  21st,  1736,  Mr.  Wesley 
says :  "  Mary  Welch,  aged  eleven  days,  was  bap- 
tized according  to  the  custom  of  the  first  church,  and 
the  rule  of  the  Church  of  England ,  by  immersion. 
The  child  was  ill  then,  but  recovered  from  that 
very  hour.'' 

Three  things  are  evident  from  this:  1.  The  early 
church  practiced  immersion.  2.  That  this  was  the 
practice  of  the  Church  of  England;  and  3.  That 
this  is  positively  opposed  to  the  doctrine  of  some 
circuit  riders  who  say  that  immersion  destroys 
health.  Before  this  objection  is  offered  again  they 
must  change  the  "standards,"  as  they  have  often 
done  before,  and  make  Mr.  Wesley  cease  to  say, 
"the  child  was  ill  then,  but  recovered  from  that 
very  hour." 

The  next  instance  occurred  in  Savannah,  Ga., 
May  5th,  1736,  and  is  most  significant.  Mr.  Wes- 
ley says:     "I  was  asked  to  ba]>tize  a  child  of  Mr. 


234  IMMERSION. 

Parker's,  second  bailiff  of  Savannah ;  but  Mrs. 
Parker  told  me,  neither  Mr.  P.  nor  I  will  consent 
to  its  being  dipped !  I  answered,  if  you  certify 
that  your  child  is  weak,  it  will  suffice  (the  rubric 
says)  to  pour  water  upon  it.  She  replied :  ^  Nay, 
the  child  is  not  weak,  but  I  am  resolved  that  it 
shall  not  be  dipped.'  This  argument  I  could  not 
refute,  so  I  went  home  and  the  child  was  baptized 
by  another  person.  (Journal,  vol.  1,  p.  24.)  But 
this  was  not  the  end  of  the  matter.  On  the  first 
day  of  September,  1737,  Mr.  Wesley  was  tried  by 
a  grand  jury  of  forty-four  men,  found  guilty,  and 
ordered  to  leave  the  country.  I  will  let  Mr. 
Wesley  state  the  charges.  He  says:  "Therein 
they  asserted,  upon  oath,  that  John  Wesley,  clerk, 
had  broken  the  laws  of  the  realm,  contrary  to  the 
peace  of  our  sovereign  lord  the  King,  his  honor 
and  dignity. 

1.  By  speaking  and  writing  to  Mrs.  Williamson, 
against  her  husband's  consent. 

2.  By  repelling  her  from  the  holy  communion. 

3.  By  not  declaring  his  adherence  to  the  Church 
of  England. 

4.  By  dividing  the  morning  services  of  Sundays. 

5.  By    refusing   to   baptize  Mr.  Parker's   child, 
otherwise    than    by    dipping,    except    the    parents 


WHAT    THE    METHODISTS    SAY.  235 

would  certify  that  it  was  weak,  and  not  able  to 
bear  it. 

6.  For  repelling  William  Gough  from  the 
holy  communion. 

7.  By  refusing  to  read  the  burial  services  over 
the  body  of  Nathaniel  Polhill. 

8.  By  calling  himself  ordinary  of  Savannah. 

9.  By  refusing  to  receive  William  Aglionby, 
as  god-father,  only  because  he  was  not  a  com- 
municant. 

10.  For  reflising  Jacob  Matthews  for  the  same 
reason ;  and  baptizing  an  Indian  trader's  child  with 
only  two  sponsors.  (This,  I  own,  was  wrong;  for 
I  ought,  at  all  hazards,  to  have  refused  baptizing  it 
till  he  had  procured  a  third.)  "  (Journal,  vol.  1, 
pp.  42,  43.) 

This  is  a  strange  record  for  the  father  of  the 
Methodists.  John  Wesley  was  tried  and  found 
guilty  by  the  courts  of  the  land  for  refusing  to 
sprinkle  a  baby !  Dr.  Watson,  in  his  Life  of 
Wesley,  professes  to  give  a  fair  account  of  this  trial 
of  Wesley,  and  yet  he  says  not  a  word  about  this 
child  He  mentions  a  few  of  the  most  trivial 
charges,  and  altogether  treats  the  trial  as  a  small 
affair.  Does  not  this  look  like  trying  to  conceal 
an  important  &ct?     And  talk  of  close  communion. 


236  IMMKRSIOX. 

No  Baptist  of  my  acquaintance  has  over  ^^  repelled" 
a  man  and  a  Avoman  from  the  Lord's  table. 

On  June  the  25th,  he  re-baptized  John  Smith ; 
and  March  21st,  1759,  he  baptized  two  adults  by 
immersion."     (Journal,  vol.  2,  p.  16.) 

I  have  heard  men  speak  very  largely  upon  the 
figurative  use  of  the  word  baptize;  baptized  in 
wine,  sleep,  dews  of  heaven,  etc.  But  all  sueh 
persons  need  to  do  is  to  turn  to  Mr.  Wesley\s 
Journal,  vol.  2,  p.  152,  and  read  of  a  certain  man 
"•  who  was  wet  all  over  with  sweat  as  if  he  had 
been  dipped  in  water." 

In  the  old  Discipline,  compiled  by  Wesley, 
Jesus  was  baptized  in  the  river  of  Jordan,  and  the 
sixth  of  Romans  means  simply  a  burial  in  water. 
On  the  baptism  of  suffering,  Mark  x :  38,  he  says : 
"Our  Lord  was  filled  with  sufferings,  and  covered 
with  them  without." 

I  now  turn  to  Wesley's  Notes  on  the  New  Tes- 
tament, and  under  Rom.  vi :  3,  I  read:  "We  are 
buried  with  him,  alluding  to  the  ancient  manner 
if  baptizing  by  immersion." 

Adam  Clarke  follow^-  Wesley  in  his  admissions. 
He  says,  in  reference  to  the  baptism  of  John: 
"That  the  baptism  of  John  was  by  plunging  the 
body  (after  the  same  manner  as  the  washing  unclean 
persons,  and  the  baptism  of  proselytes  was),  seems 


WHAT    THE    METHODISTS    SAY.  237 

to  appear  from  those  things  that  are  related  of 
Mm ;  namely,  that  he  baptized  in  Jordan,  that  he 
baptized  in  Enon,  because  there  was  much  water 
there;  and  that  Christ  being  baptized  came  up  out 
of  the  water;  to  which  that  seems  to  be  parallel, 
Acts,  viii:  38,  Philip  and  the  eunuch  went  down 
into  the  water,''  &c.     (Com.  vol.  3,  p.  344.) 

In  his  comment  on  Rom.  vi :  4,  he  says  :  "  We 
are  buried  with  him  by  baptism  into  death.  It  is 
probable  that  the  apostle  alludes  to  the  mode  of 
administering  baptism  by  immersion,  the  whole 
body  being  put  under  water,  which  seems  to  say 
the  man  is  drowned,  is  dead ;  and,  when  he  came 
up  out  of  the  water,  he  seemed  to  have  a  resurrec- 
tion to  life;  the  man  is  risen  again,  he  is  alive. 
He  was,  therefore,  supposed  to  throw  off  his  old 
gentile  state,  as  he  threw  off  his  clothes,  and  to 
assume  a  new  character,  as  the  baptized  generally 
put  on  a  new  or  fresh   garment."     (Com.  vol.  4, 

-^.  78.) 

On  Colossians  ii:  12,  Clarke  says:  "Alluding 
to  the  immersion  practiced  in  the  case  of  adults, 
wherein  the  person  appeared  to  be  buried  under 
the  water,  as  Christ  was  buried  in  the  heart  of  the 
earth.     His  rising  again  the  third  day,  and  their 

^  emerging  from  the  wat«r,  was  an  emblem  of  the 


238  IMMERSION. 

resurrection  of  the  body,  and,  in  them,  of  a  total 
change  of  life.''     (Com.  vol.  4,  p.  538.) 

Gregory  and  Ruter  say  in  their  Church  History : 
'*  The  initiatory  rite  of  baptism  was  usually  per- 
formed by  immersing  the  whole  body  in  the  bap- 
tismal font,  and  in  the  earlier  years  of  Christianity 
was  permitted  to  all  who  acknowledged  the  truths 
of  the  Gospel  and  promised  conformity  to  its 
laws.''  (Hist.  p.  34.)  Of  the  second  century  they 
say :  "  Baptism  was  publicly  performed  twice  a 
year.  The  catechumens  (or  probationers  for  bap- 
tism) assembled  in  the  church  on  the  great  festi- 
vals of  Easter  and  Whitsuntide;  and  after  a  pub- 
lic declaration  of  their  faith,  and  a  solemn  assur- 
ance from  their  sponsors  that  it  was  their  inten- 
tion to  live  conformably  to  the  Gospel,  they  re- 
ceived the  sacrament  of  baptism.  This  rite  was 
performed  by  three  immersions  and  the  body  was 
divested  of  clothes.  In  order  to  preserve  decency 
in  the  operation,  the  baptismal  font  of  the  women 
was  separated  from  that  of  the  men,  and  they  were 
as  much  as  possible  attended  by  the  deaconnesses 

__^of  the  church."  (Church  Hist.  p.  53.) 

I  have  before  me  a  very  recent  book,  1889,  from 

/       the  Methodist  press.     It  is  called  Christian  Arch- 

/  geology,  by  Charles  W.  Bennett,  D.D.     It  is  edited 

/  by  George  R.  Crooks,  D.D.,  and  Bishop  John  F. 

/ 


WHAT    THE    METHOJ>18TS    SAY.  239 

Hurst.  The  preface  announces  that  *'  the  theology 
of  the  '^  volume  is  in  '^  harmony  with  the  stand- 
ards of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church."  This 
is  certainly  authoritative  as  well  as  fresh.  Dr. 
Bennett  says :  ^^  The  customary  mode  was  used  by 
the  apostles  in  the  baptism  of  the  first  converts. 
They  wore  familiar  with  the  baptism  of  John's 
disciples  and  of  the  Jewish  proselytes.  This  was 
ordinarily  by  dipping  or  immersion.  This  is  in- 
dicated not  only  by  the  general  signification  of  the 
words  used  in  describing  the  rite,  but  the  earliest 
testimony  of  the  documents  which  have  been  pre- 
served  gives   preference  to  this  mode 

The  terms  of  Scripture  describing  the  rite,  most  of 
the  figures  used  by  the  writers  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment to  indicate  its  significance  (Rom.  vi :  4 ;  Col. 
ii :  12,  et  al.),  the  explanations  of  the  Apostolic 
Constitutions,  the  comments  of  the  foremost  Chris- 
tian fathers  for  the  first  six  centuries,  and  the  ex- 
press instructions  of  ecclesiastical  councils,  indi- 
cate that  immersion  was  the  more  usual  mode  of 
baptism.'^  (Chris.  Arch.  pp.  396,  397.) 

The  scholarship  of  the  Methodist  Church  joins 
with  that  of  all  others  in  proclaiming  that  immer- 
sion is  apostolic. 


240  IMMERSION. 


CHAPTER  XXIX. 

WHAT  THE  SYRIAC  SAYS. 

/^NE  of  the  oldest,  if  not  the  oldest,  translation 
^  of  the  New  Testament  is  that  of  the  Peshito 
8yriac.  It  was  made  in  the  second  century  in  the 
very  country  where  the  apostles  lived  and  wrote. 
It  is  regarded  by  scholars  as  one  of  the  best  trans- 
lations of  the  New  Testament  ever  made.  From 
these  considerations  the  Syriac  is  of  much  impor- 
tance. 

The  word  used  in  the  Syriac  to  translate  the 
Greek  word  baptize  is  amad.  It  has  been  claimed 
by  some  that  amad  means  ^^to  stand.''  Gesenius 
defines  the  Hebrew  word  which  corresponds  with 
amad  "  to  stand,"  and  adds :  "  In  the  Syriac 
Church  amad  is  '  to  baptize,'  perhaps  because  the 
person  to  be  baptized  stood  in  the  water ;  but  see 
Castell  Lex.  ed.  Michaelis  sub  verbo."  This 
standing  up  in  the  water  suits  the  idea  of  immer- 
j?ion  rather  than  that  of  sprinkling  or  pouring; 
for  certainly  no  one  "  stands  in  the  water  "  to  re- 
ceive sprinkling  or  pouring.  If  the  word  means 
to  stand,  sprinkle  or  pour  can  not  be  a  direct 
translation  of  it. 


WHAT   THE   SYRIAC   SAYS.  241 

If  I  was  forced  to  the  oonclusion  that  the  Syriac 
amad  must  be  limited  to  the  idea  of  standing,  I 
should  pi-efer  to  regard  it  as  meaning  "to  take  a 
stand/'  and  so  to  make  the  public  profession. 
Baptism  is  the  appointed  method  of  professing  to 
be  a  Christian,  and  the  word  indicating  the  thing 
accomplished  by  baptism  may  have  come  to  be 
used  for  the  act  of  baptism  itself.  This  position 
is  suggested  by  eminent  Pedobaptist  scholars. 
Dr.  Isaac  H.  Hall,  of  the  Metropolitan  Museum 
of  Art,  New  York,  one  of  the  foremost  Syriac 
scholars  of  our  countr)^,  writes  me  under  date  of 
February  7,  1891 :  "  I  think  the  word  was  orig- 
inally the  same  as  the  Hebrew  and  the  Arabic, 
and  that  it  meant  to  stand,  to  set  up.  Baptizing 
was  thus  taking  a  stand  or  position  as  one  of  the 
visible  church.  Thence  used  to  render  haptizemy 
it  obtained  finally  the  meaning  to  dip,  or  to  im- 
merse" If  this  is  the  meaning  of  the  word,  I  have 
only  to  observe  two  things:  1.  In  that  view  it 
primarily  gives  no  indication  as  to  the  act  of  bap- 
tism, but  by  usage  the  word  came  to  mean  to  dip ; 
and  2.  That  it  explicitly  disagrees  with  the  bap- 
tism of  infants  who  do  not  "  take  a  stand,"  or 
make  any  personal  profession,  any  more  than  they 
*^  stand  up  in  the  water  ^'  to  be  baptized.     So  the 

word  in  that  understanding  of  it  gives  no  aid  to 
16 


242  IMMERSION. 

our  Pedobaptist  brethren.  It  does  not  help  them 
as  to  the  act,  and  it  is  distinctly  opposed  to  their 
teaching  as  to  the  subjects. 

The  view,  however,  which  seems  to  be  the  most 
probable  is,  that  the  Syriac  word  means  to  im- 
merse. It  is  claimed  by  B.  Davies,  in  his  Hebrew 
Lexicon,  that  besides  the  ordinary  Hebrew  word 
amady  meaning  ^'  to  stand,"  there  is  a  second  root, 
spelled  and  pronounced  exactly  like  it,  and  mean- 
ing "to  sink,"  and  so  to  be  overwhelmed.  Fui*st, 
in  his  lexicon,  gives  anmd  three  times,  as  three 
separate  roots;  the  first  being  the  ordinary  one 
"to  stand,"  the  second  "to  waver,"  and  the  third 
"  to  be  inclined,  to  lean  to  a  thing,  to  turn  to  one 
side,"  and  from  this  third  root  he  derives  the  com- 
mon Hebrew  preposition  immad. 

Without  going  into  any  discussion  as  to  the  root 
of  the  word  amad  in  Hebrew  in  these  various 
senses,  which  is  only  indirectly  in  line  with  our 
investigations,  it  is  sufficient  to  say  that  all  Syriac 
lexicons  recognize  immerse  as  the  natural  mean- 
ing of  the  Syriac  word  amad. 

I  present  the  testimony  of  the  lexicons : 

Castell  says:  "To  bathe,  to  baptize,  to  im- 
merse."   (Lex.  Heptaglot  sub.  vc.  London,  1669.) 

Buxtorf  says :  "  To  baptize,  to  dip,  to  bathe,  to 
bathe  oneself"    (Lex.  Chal.  and  Syr.  Basle,  1622.) 


WHAT   THE   SYR r AC    SAYS.  243 

Guido  Fabricus  says :  ^'  To  baptize,  to  dip,  to 
wash."  (Ant.  Poly.  sub.  vc.  Antwerp,  1592.) 

Michaelis  says :  "  To  bathe,  to  baptize,  to  im- 
merse." He  adds :  "  In  this  signification  of  bap- 
tizing not  a  few  compare  with  the  Hebrew  amad- 
stetit  (he  stood),  so  that  stare  is  stare  in  flumine, 
illoque  mergi  (to  stand  in  the  river,  and  in  it  to 
be  immersed).  To  me  it  seems  more  probable 
that  it  is  altogether  different  from  the  Hebrew 
amad,  and  has  arisen  through  some  permutation 
of  the  letters  from  the  (Arabic)  amath,  suhmergere 
(to  submerge).  The  signification  of  standing,  com- 
mon to  the  other  Oriental  tongues,  I  do  not  find 
among  the  Syrians,  save  in  the  derivative  amudj 
and  which  is  cited  from  Castell  from  one  place 
(Ex.  xiii :  22),  but  which  you  will  find  is  read  al- 
most everywhere  in  Hebrew  pillar  of  cloud  and 
pillar  of  fire." 

Gutbier,  in  the  small  lexicon  affixed  to  his  edi- 
tion of  the  Syriac  New  Testament,  gives  the  mean- 
ing, "to  baptize,  he  was  baptized,  he  upheld." 
This  last  meaning  has  no  reference  to  support  it, 
and  it  is  apparently  introduced  only  with  the  pur- 
pose of  deriving  from  this  sense  of  the  verb  the 
noun  amudy  which  means  a  column.  With  this 
exception  I  do  not  find  in  any  Syriac  lexicon  the 


244  IMMERSION. 

expression  to  stand,  or  any  similar  expression, 
given  as  a  signification  of  the  Syriac  word  amad. 

Bernstein  says:  "To  immerse,  to  he  immersed, 
to  immerse  oneself/'  (Chres.  Syr.  Leipzig,  1836, 
p.  378.) 

Tlie  latest  and  most  authoritative  of  all  the 
Syriac  lexicons  is  that  of  R.  Payne  Smith,  pub- 
lished last  year  in  England.  G.  B.  Benistein,  of 
Germany,  gathered  much  material  for  such  a  work 
during  his  laborious  life,  and  at  his  death  this 
material  passed  into  the  hands  of  Dean  Smith. 
Now,  after  years  of  work,  and  with  the  co-opera- 
tion of  the  foremost  Syriac  scholars  of  the  world, 
Dean  Smith  has  published  his  "Thesaurus  Syri- 
acus."  He  defines  amad:  "to  descend,  to  be  im- 
mersed, to  be  baptized.^' 

The  testimony  of  these  seven  lexicons  is  con- 
clusive. There  is  not  the  most  distant  intimation 
that  fhese  scholars  ever  thought  that  amad  meant 
to  sprinkle  or  to  pour. 

The  use  of  the  word  by  Syriac  scholars  is  in 
ac<x)r<l  with  this  idea.  All  through  the  Syriac 
Bible  amad  is  used  to  translate  the  Greek  baptizo  ; 
and  wmad  is  used  ten  times  in  the  sense  of  to  dip 
in  the  Syriac  Bible  where  the  ordinance  of  bap- 
tism is  not  referred  to,  and  where,  therefore,  it 
must  be  used  in  the  ordinary  and  non-ecclesiastical 


WHAT   THE   SYRIAC   SAYS.  245 

eense.  This  fact  is  sufficient  to  clothe  with  shame 
thoe€  who  adduce  this  Syrian  word  as  an  argu- 
ment against  immersion.  The  word  is  frequently 
used  in  Syriac  literature  in  the  sense  of  to  dip,  as 
a  diver  after  pearls,  of  the  setting  sun,  the  enter- 
ing of  an  arrow  into  the  brain,  the  three  Hebrew 
children  into  the  fire,  he  dipped  his  mouth  into 
the  water,  &c. 

Ephraem  Syrus,  of  Edessa,  speaks  of  the  bap- 
tism of  Christ  in  a  way  that  must  include  an  im- 
mersion. "  How  wonderful,"  says  he,  ''  that  thy 
footsteps  were  planted  on  the  waters,  that  the 
great  sea  should  submit  itself  to  thy  feet,  and  that 
yet  at  a  small  river  that  same  head  of  thine  should 
be  subjected  to  be  bowed  down  and  baptized  in  it." 

I  add  an  array  of  authority  that  is  impregnable. 

Theodore  Beza  says  that  baptlzo  means  to  im- 
merse, and  adds;  "Nor  does  the  signification  of 
amadj  which  the  Syrians  use  for  baptize,  differ  at 
all  from  this.''     (Annot.  in  Mark  vii :  4.) 

Casparis  Clavor,  after  quoting  the  Syriac  for 
Rom.  vi:  4,  adds  :  ''  Which  may  be  translated  Mn 
baptism,'  beyond  all  doubt  referring  not  to  bap- 
tismal sprinkling,  but  to  immersion."  (Anniversa- 
rium  Dodec,  Leipzig,  1719.) 

Dr.  John  Mason  Neale,  the  greatest  Anglican 
connoisseur  of  the  Greek  Church,  says :     "  All  the 


246  IMMERSION. 

Syrian  forms  prescribe  or  assume  trine  immersion." 
(Hist.  East.  Ch.,  p.  949.) 

Some  years  ago  Dr.  C.  H.  Toy,  Professor  of 
Oriental  Literature  in  Harvard  University,  wrote 
a  work  upon  '^ AmacU^  His  conclusions  were: 
"  From  our  inquiry  it  appears  that  there  were 
no  cases  in  which  aniad  may  not  mean  dij),  and 
some  in  which  it  must  have  that  meaning :  that 
there  are  similar  verbs  in  Arabic  meaning  the 
same  thing :  that  the  verb  amad,  '  to  stand/  proba- 
bly disappeared  from  the  Syriac  language  some 
centuries  before  Christ :  that  it  is  not  satisfactorily 
explained  how  a  meaning  baptize  could  come  from 
a  meaning  stand:  and  that  all  authorities  in  Syriac 
concur  in  assigning  to  amad  the  signification  dip." 

I  recently  w  rote  Dr.  Toy  and  asked  him  if  more 
recent  research  had  confirmed  him  in  these  con- 
clusions.    He  replied: 

Cambridge,  Mass.,  January  29,  1891. 

Dr.  J.  T.  Christian: 

Dear  Sir, — Your  enquiry  of  the  24th  has  been 
received.  My  conclusion  was  that  the  stem  amad 
in  Syriac,  signifies  **to  be  dipped."  In  addition 
to  the  authorities  there  quoted,  I  can  now  cite  the 
great "  Thesaurus  Syriacus, ''  edited  by  Payne  Smith, 
with   the  co-operation    of  many   scholars;  in  thia 


WHAT    THE   SYRIAC   SAYS.  247 

most  recent  publication  (which  appeared  last  year) 
amad  is  defined  as — ^^  descendit,  mersus  est,  bap- 
tizatus  est."  Yours  truly, 

C.  H.  Toy. 

It  is  with  genuine  pleasure  that  I  am  able  to 
present  the  additional  testimony  of  Dr.  Gottheil, 
of  Columbia  College,  New  York ;  Dr.  R.  Payne 
Smith,  the  Dean  of  Canterbury,  England,  and  the 
author  of  the  great  Syriac  Lexicon ;  and  of  Prof. 
Th.  Noldeke,  Strasburg,  Germany,  who  is  a 
recognized  authority  in  Syriac  the  world  over. 
The  testimooy  of  these  men  is  most  decisive. 

Dr.  Gottheil  says : 

Columbia  College,  N.  Y.,  March  21,  1890. 
My  Dear  Sir: — 

1.  The  Syriac  word  you  refer  to,  amad,  means 
really  to  go  down,  decline,  immerse  one's  self, 
{e,  g,  the  day  declines). 

2.  It  is  used  in  the  sense  of  baptizein  continually 
in  the  New  Testament. 

3.  It  is  from  the  Arabic  glamada,  "  to  put  a 
thing  within  something  else,"  {e.g.,  a  sword  in  its 
sheath).  Believe  me,  very  truly  yours, 

EicHAKD  Gottheil. 


248  IMMERSION. 

Dean  Smith  writes  : 

Deanery,  Canterbury,  March  20,  1891. 
The  Rev.  J.  T.  Christian,  D.D. 

Dear  Sir, — The  strict  meaning  of  arnad  is  to  go 
down,  descend.  It  is  used  of  the  sun  setting,  etc., 
and  secondly  to  going  down  into  a  brook,  river, 
etc.,  to  wash.  The  word  for  baptism  is  the  Aphel 
or  Causative  form,  literally  to  cause  to  cUscendy  im- 
mersey  dip,  either  totally  or  partially.  In  this  sense 
the  verb  is  used  in  the  Syriac  New  Testament  and 
in  all  ecclesiastical  writers  for  baptize.  It  an- 
swers to  the  Greek  baptizeln  in  the  sense  of  wash- 
ing one's  self.  The  Aphel  is  seldom  used  in  any- 
other  sense  than  that  of  baptism ;  but  it  is  used  of 
dipping  a  bell  into  water,  but  possibly  as  a  sort 
of  religious  ceremony. 

Believe  me,  very  truly  yours, 

R.  Payne  Smith. 

Prof.  Th.  Noldeke  writes: 

Strasburo,  Germany,  Febru«iry  17th,  1891. 
Dr.  J.  T.  Christian,  Jackson,  Miss. : 

Dear  Sir, — Amad  signifies,  as  is  declared  with 
entire  correctness  by  Payne  Smith,  primarily  to 
draw  dowrij  to  go  undeVy  to  immerse  one's  self.  In 
the  New  Testament  it  is  used  with  entire  reg- 
ularity for  haptizesthaij  and  always  in  the  passive 


WHAT   THE   8YHIAC   SAY8.  249 

sense:  therefore,  it  is  connected  with  the  Syriac 
men-von-hupo.  (Math,  iii:  13.)  By  all  Syrians  it 
is  the  regular  word  for  being  baptized.  The 
Christian  inhabitants  of  Palestine,  who  spoke 
another  dialect,  have  a  different  word,  Atbal; 
which  word  is  also  found  in  use  among  the  Man- 
deans,  a  peculiar  sect  in  Babylonia,  which  took  its 
origin  in  part  only  from  Christianity.  This  word, 
however,  signifies  immerse  (eintauchen). 

I  am  inclined  to  believe  that  John  and  Jeeus, 
as  residents  of  Palestine,  used  the  word  atbal  or 
iabal  for  baptize,  and  that  the  word  amad,  which 
extended  from  Edessa  all  over  Syria,  was  employed 
to  set  forth  Christian  opposition  against  the  usage 
of  the  Jewish  Christian  party.  That,  however,  is 
nothing  more  than  a  supposition.  I  would  remark, 
in  addition,  that  baptize  in  the  active  voice  is  ex- 
pressed by  the  causative  amad.  The  Jewish  word 
for  the  baptismal  bath  is  Hetbil. 

Very  respectfully, 

Th.  Noldeke. 

I,  therefore,  justly  arrive  at  the  conclusion  that 
(smad  means  to  dip. 

THE   END. 


INDEX  OP  AUTHORS  AND  SUBJECTS. 


PAGE 

Achilles,  Tatius. 28 

Admiesions  of  Pedobap- 

tist  Scholars 13-15 

jEnon,  Baptism  of 50 

Age.The 195 

Alabaster 142 

Alcibiades 24 

Alciphron 26 

Alcuin 76,  117 

Alexander,  Dr.  Gross 16 

Alford,  Dean 219 

Ambrose,  Bishop 116 

Apostolic  Constitutions. .  121 
Aquinas,  Thomas.  134, 159, 204 

Aratiis 186 

Argonautic  Expedition . .     28 

Ariosto 184 

Aristophen 27 

Amoldi 205 

Augustine,  Bishop . .  117,  150 

Augustine 77,  79 

Avitus,  Bishop 76 

Badger 177 

Barnabas 108,  125 

Barnes,  Albert 87,  106 

Baronius.. 148,  155 

Baenage 153 

Basil 113 

Bass. 19 

Baxter,  Richard 228 


PACK 

Beaulieu,  Madleine  de...  176 

Beds,  Baptism  of 68 

Benardus  de  Montfaucon    37 
Bennett,  Dr.  C.  W...48, 52, 

72,  106,  147,  202,  238 

Bernardino 144 

Beza 223,  245 

Bickersteth 187,  188,  190 

Bjerring,  Rev.  Nicholas. .  198 

Blackstone 8 

Blount,  John  Henry. . . .  216 

Bona  Ventura 204 

Boniface,  St 79 

Bon wetsch.  Prof 198 

Bossuet,  Bishop 208 

Brazen  Vessels 67 

Brenner,  F 208 

Brewster,  Sir  David  158, 

160,  163 
Britannica  Encyclopaedia    41 

Brown 9,  10,  12,  13 

Bryennios,  Bishop.. .  119,  122 

Bullinger,  E.  W 19 

Bunsen,  Baron Ill 

Buried  with  Christ 102 

Burnstein 244 

Buxtorf.. 36,  242 

Calcuith,  Council  of.  169,  170 
Calvin,  John  51,  84,  162, 
163,  210,  223,  224,  225,  238 

(251) 


INDKX. 


J'AGE 

Camden 78 

CampbeH,  Dr.  George.  52, 

65,  06,  115,  230 
Carthage,  Council  of . . .  .   168 

Cash  el,  Council  of 172 

Caeaubon 35 

Caytello,  E 36,  240,  242 

Catholics,  Testimony  of. .  204 

Cave 73 

Cereas 195 

Cerfeo,  Lexicon  of 196 

Chalmers,  Dr 104,  229 

Chariton 28 

(  hristian  Baptism 57 

Chrysostom    73,  74,  1 13 

Clarke,  Adam...  48,  106,  236 

( Uassical  Baptism 23 

Clavor 245 

Clermont,  Council  of 173 

Clinic  Baptism 151 

(Mough,  J.  E  82 

Clovis,  King •  75 

Coke 12,  13 

Cold  Countries 161 

Coleman,  Lyman 229 

Collier 170 

Cologne,  Council  of 1 74 

Conant,  T.  J 32 

Conon 25 

Conybeare  and   Howson 

37,  91,  96,  107 

('ooly 10 

Councils 167 

Cowper 30,  93,  185 

Cox,  Homcrsham 85,  131 

Coxe,  Bishop  A.   Cleve- 
land  21,  122,  221 

Cremer 19 

Crvstal 219 


PA.GK 

("yclades,  Bitshop  of 197 

Cyprian 116,  131,  152,  156 

Cyril  of  Jerusalem 54 

Dale,  J.  W 32 

Dante 182,  183 

Davies 30,  242 

Delitzsch,  Franz 45 

Demetrius  26 

Demoleon,  M 179 

Demosthenes 24 

Didache 119 

Dill,  J.  S 1#1 

Diodati 224 

Diodorus 25 

Dion  Cassius 26 

Dionysius    113 

Discipline,Methodi8t.l81,  251 

Dobbs,  C.E.  W ..  129 

Doddridge,  Dr .51,  84 

D51  linger,  Dr.  49,  72,  134, 

204,  207 

Dounegan 20 

Drown,  docs  baptko  mean 

to 31 

Dryden 186 

Dupin 205 

Durant,  Guillaume 179 


p:aton,  T.  T 

Ellicott,  Bishop. 


98 

54,  60, 
85,  97,  218 

Endersheim 219 

Epictetus ^ 26 

Episcopalians,  tefifimony 

of 213 

Est,  Chancellor 105 

Eubulus 24 

Eulot^us 77 


INDEX. 


25^ 


page; 

Eunuch,  The 83,  115  " 

Eufiebiu8..151,   152,  164,  155 

EuBtathius 29 

Evenus 24 

Fabyan 77 

FabrycuB 243 

Farrar 107,  119 

Fathers,  Greek 23.  108 

Fathers,  Latin 114 

Feleenthal,  Rabbi  B 42 

Figurative  Meanings... 30,  38 
Fisher,  George  P. . .  .107,  131 

Fleet,  Dr.  A.  F 192 

tYadensdorf,  J.  W 18 

Frith,  John 179 

Fritzche a5 

Funk,  Dr 135 


Geikie,  C 49,  218 

Giesler 154 

Gesenius, 3&-39,  86,  240 

Gibbons,  Cardinal... 207,  210 

Gibbs 36 

( rilbert.  Bishop 75 

Glogan,  Ritual 178 

Gocelyn 78 

Gothic  Missal 176 

Gottheil,  R 247 

Gould,  S.  Baring 143 

Gratus,  Bishop 168 

Greek  Church 192 

Ancient  and    Modern 

Greek 192-195 

Greek  Ritual 181,  195 

Green 20 

Greenfield 16,  20 

Greenleaf 7,  8,  11,  13 

Gregory  Pope. . .  .77, 169,  180 
Gregory,  Thaumaturgus.  112 


PAOS 

Gregory  of  Toura 76 

Groves 20 

Gutbier 248 

Hak-Kodesh,  Rabbi 40 

Hall,  Dr.  Isaac  H 241 

Harnack,  Adolf.. 33,  123, 

124,  129 

Hart 170,172,174 

Haydock 211 

Heaton 47 

Hebrew    lexicons,   testi- 
mony of 36 

Hedericus 19 

Heimerius 27 

Heliodorus 28 

Henry 77 

Hersman,  C.  C 17 

Hibbard,  Dr 41,59,96 

Hilgenfeld,  Prof 133 

Hincmar 77 

Hippocrates 32,  34 

Hippolytus Ill 

History,  testimony  of... .  128 

Hodge,  C 8 

Hodge,  C.W 17 

Ilogue,  Prof.  Addison....   193 

Holtzman,  Prof 66,  133 

Holy  Spirit,  baptism  of..    51 

Homer 90,92,186 

Homeric  Allegories 23 

Humphreys,  Prof.  M.  W.    31 
Hurst,  Bishop. . .  .48, 106,  202 

Irenseus 110 

Jahn 68 

Jailer's  baptism 9\ 

Jerome 117,  118 

Jesus,  baptism  of 56 


!54 


INDEX. 


PAGE 

John  the  Baptist 46 

Jonathan 38 

Josephus 25,  34 

Julian., 28,  189 

Justin  Martyr 109 

Keane  John  J 21 

Kennedy 216 

Kenrick,    Arch.,  49,  66, 

210,  211,  221 

Kincaid,  A.  J 99 

Kitto 64,  68 

Knapp,  George  C 154 

Kyriasko,  Prof 199 

I^abbe  and  Cossart,  167, 

168,  172,  174 

Langen,  Joseph 130 

Lascarides,  G.  P 21 

Law  of  baptism 7 

LeCierc 52 

Leo,  Rabbi 42 

Lexicons,  statement  of. .     16 

Libanius 27 

Liddell  and  Scott,  16, 17, 

89,  92 

Liddon,  Canon 103 

Lingard,  Dr.  John 79 

Liturgies  and  Mifisals...   170 

Livy 30 

Lucian 26 

Luther,  Martin,  37,    52, 

158,  210 

Mabillon 206 

Maclaren,  Dr 59 

Maimonides 41,  69 

Mallett 142 

Mariott 202  I 

Marshall,  Chief  Justice. 


PAGE 

Mattes 207 

Martini 176,  179 

Maury,  Bonet  G....  133,  202 

:\Ietho(ii^^tH,  The 2^:) 

Meyer 48,  'y2,  67,  105 

MichaeliH 240,  243 

Milton,  John...  37,  'oS,  93, 

189,  100 

Minerva,  The 195 

Miratori 206 

Mishna,  The 44 

Moore,  Thos 180 

Muller,  Max 148 

Naaman,  Baptism  of . .  36, 

47,  49,  92,  110 


Neander 54,59,  80,  153 

Neo-Csesarea,  Council  of.  156 

Nestor 81 

Newman,  Cardinal f48 

Nicene,  Council  of 167 

Nismes,  Council  of 174 

Noldeke,  Th 240 

Noyee 66,  87 

O'Farrel...    75 

Olshausen 50,  66 

Onkelos 38 

Oosterzee,  Prof.  J.  J 107 

Origen Ill 

Othelon 79 

Otto,  Bishop 80 

Ovid 138,  139 

Oxford,  Crtuncil  of 17.". 

Paciandi,  Paul  Maria 205 

Paine,  Prof.  L.  L 131 

Parkhurst 37 


10  .  Paeeow L 


INDEX. 


255 


PAGE 

Pastor  of  Hermae.. . .  110,  125 

Patrick,  St 74,75 

Paul,  Baptism  of 89 

Paulinus,  Arch 78,  79 

Perthes 73 

Philo 25,  125 

Pierne  Plowman 183 

Pindar 23 

Plato 23 

Platon,  Bishop 197 

Plotinus 26 

Plumptre 54,  66, 97 

Plutarch 25,26 

Poets,  The 182 

Pollok 184 

Polysenue 26 

Poly  bias 24,32,  183 

Pope 185,  186 

Pope,Dr.  W  19 

Porphyra 27 

Pothier 11 

Potter,  Bishop  Henry  C. 

21,  53 
Powell,  Dr.  W.D....  200,  231 

Prague,  Council  of 174 

Presbyterians,  The 223 

Prescott 144 

Priesthood  of  Christ 57 

Proclus 28 

Purification,  Theory  of . .     58 

Ravenna,  Council  of.  134, 

174,  204 

Reading,  Council  of 173 

Remingius 76,  177 

Riddle,  Dr 122 

Robinson 17, 20,  62,  63,  90 

RomanuB,  Ordo 178 


PAOK 

Salmasius, 155 

Sarum,  Manual 178,  214 

Saxon  Visitation 180 

Scapula 20 

Schaff 37 

Schaff,  Dr..ll9,  120,  121, 
130,  134,  159,  162,  180, 

201,  230 

Schindleri 37 

Schleusner 20 

Schoettgenius 20 

Schrevellius 20 

Seneca 30 

Septuagint 36,  87 

Shakespeare 30 

Simplicius 29 

Simonis 20,  37 

Smith,  Bishop 220 

Smith,  R.  Payne 244,  248 

Sophocles,  E.  A.  .18,  196,  200 
Sprinkling,  a  heathen 
custom,  136 ;  history 
of,  158 ;  many  nations, 
85;  France  first  coun- 
try where  practiced, 
160;  introduction  into 

England 163 

Stanley,    Dean,    60,    81, 
128,  134,  147,  157,  164, 

180,  200,  217 

Starkie 13 

Stephanus 19,  65 

Stephen,  Pope 153 

Stockius 20,  37 

Stourdza.., 197 

Strabo 24,  33 

Strabo,  Walafrid 134 

Stuart,  21,  37,  39,  50,  110, 

116,  202 


256 


INDEX. 


PAOX 

8uicer 20 

Summers,  Thos.  0 71,  94 

8yriac,  The,  240 ;    Ritual,  177 
8yrus,  Ephraim 245 

Tables,  baptism  of 67 

Talmage,  Dr 60 

Talmud ,  Jerusalem 40 

Taylor,  Bishop  Jeremy...    60 

Targum 38 

"  Teaching  of  the  Twelve 

Apostles," 119 

Tertullian 114,117 

Thayer,  J.  H.,  17, 18,  32, 

34,  65,  90,  92 

Themistius 27 

Three  thousand,  baptism 
of,  71 ;  Not  all  baptized 
in  one  day,  71 ;  Ex- 
amples of  the  baptism 

of  thousands 73 

Timayennis 198 

Tischendorf 67 

Todd,Dr 74,  75 

Toledo,  Council  of 108 

Toy,  Dr.  C.  H 246 

Trench 92 

Tribur,  Council  of 171 

Trine  immersion 117 

Trumbull,  Dr 59 

Turretin 227 


Use  of  Wordg 8-12 

Valesius 155 

Venema 155 

Vicecomes,  Dr 206 

Virgil 30,  138,  185,  186 

Vladimir 81 

Vulgate 52 

Wahl 19 

Wall,  Dr.... 160-162,  165, 

178,  201,  213,  215 

Watson,  Dr 235 

Watts 185 

Webster 39 

Wescott 65,  67 

Wesley,  John,  38, 104,  233-236 
Westminster,    Assembly 

of  Divines 225 

Westminster,  Council  of.  172 

Wheatley 179,  217 

Williams,  Sir  M 139,  141 

Wise,  Rabbi  Isaac  M..42,  47 

Witsius 35,  45 

Worcester,  Council  of...  172 
Worms,  Council  of 171 

York,  Council  of 172 

Zacharias,  Pope, 79 

Zwingli 233 


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